/ Childhood statelessness and education awareness month: lessons learned The experience of organizing a multifaceted, collaborative campaign around the intersection of childhood statelessness and the right to education proved invaluable. The consortium approach was purposefully designed to build solidarity with affected communities, while simultaneously leveraging the respective positions of participating organisations to draw attention to this critical issue. The first step was to consult with grassroots organizations working directly on the issue within affected communities, to understand the spectrum of obstacles facing stateless children in the education space and how community-based groups were working to address the problem. This delivered a greater depth of understanding of the constraints experienced by stateless children but also revealed the challenges that communitybased service providers face, when they step in to offer education services that states are failing to provide. For instance, during the consultations, a common challenge that emerged from partners was that of inadequate resources and capacity to deliver consistent, quality education that could serve as a genuine alternative to the formal system. This challenge was further exacerbated by the absence of accreditation and legal recognition. This not only puts such initiatives at risk of government shutdown at any time, but also prevents them from offering recognized certifications to students. The insights gleaned from the consultation process helped to inform the design of the awareness campaign and the related calls to action. The second step involved working closely with partners to strengthen their capacity to enable them to engage with children on nationality and statelessness issues in a 14 child-friendly way. This would lay the ground-work for various local activities that were designed and implemented as part of the campaign. During this period, ISI also convened an Expert Meeting, inviting child rights and education sector specialists such as the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the UN Special Rapporteur on Education to hear about the specific challenges stateless children face from those working directly in support of impacted communities. By convening child rights policymakers, advocates, education-focused international NGOs, and local community service providers, we facilitated open and dynamic discussions on specific obstacles that were affecting access to education, fostered two-way dialogue incorporating insights from community-based providers and individuals with lived experience of the issue, and established valuable connections. This enabled us to work collaboratively to further refine the calls to action that the campaign was galvanizing behind and to deliver a public event in which stateless children were able to put their questions to child rights policy makers. The third step was the execution of the month-long awareness campaign in which several local and international events took place, across different regions of the world, demonstrating the truly global nature of this issue, and the profound impact it has on the lives of stateless children. This campaign elevated global recognition of the issue by hosting simultaneous events, amplifying advocacy efforts and fostering community engagement. By bringing together policymakers, educators, and service providers, while also creating platforms for children and youths to share their experiences and perspectives, the campaign sparked critical discussions, strengthened networks, and laid the foundation for sustained action and policy change. The Awareness Month on Childhood Statelessness and Education underscored the power of collaboration in addressing complex global issues and demonstrated the effectiveness of involving youths in advocacy. It helped to provide deeper insights into the lived experiences of stateless children, informing future strategies to support their right to education. Some key learnings from the experience include: / CONSULTATION AND COLLABORATION ARE ESSENTIAL PILLARS FOR EFFECTIVE ACTION Affected communities know best what their challenges are, and where their solutions lie. More than anyone, they understand the legal barriers and societal prejudices that underly their experiences and should therefore be involved in addressing solutions to their problems. As such, centering communities is a critical ingredient in understanding the issue and finding solutions. A second critical ingredient is collaboration because speaking in unison to amplify concerns helps to dispel the notion that the issue is an isolated one. Organizing jointly under the banner of a collective awareness campaign proved