Social security disbursements for stateless persons permanently residing in the Kyrgyz Republic are similar to those of nationals (the 1993 Aliens Law, Article 10); which is in general compliance with the international standards referred to in Article 24 of the 1954 Convention. Elderly individuals that attended the Focus Group in the North reported that they receive state issued pensions, but pointed out the associated difficulties for undocumented individuals to receive pensions. Only one woman complained about a denial of pension provisions due to insufficient documentation. Elderly people, who attended the Focus Group in the South underlined that the lack of proper and valid documentation often leads to the refusal of provisions of pension. Although property rights are guaranteed for stateless persons under the 1993 Aliens Law (Article 11), in practice, valid documentation in recognition of stateless persons is required to exercise these rights. The realization of property rights is as a rule linked to execution of civil law deeds and contracts, a valid document is required to authenticate the deal. This problem was specifically raised during the Focus Group and was also reported in the survey results. Equal treatment is provided for stateless persons for the purpose of fiscal charges unless otherwise specifically provided for in law, which is in line with the standards of 1954 Convention. Generally, Kyrgyz domestic legislation grants legal coverage to stateless persons, equivalent to the standards of the 1954 Convention. However, two considerations should be taken into account with respect to the legality. Firstly, as mentioned above in the context of rights provided for stateless persons under domestic legislation, such rights are only fully exercised by stateless persons who are documented as such. Secondly, the lack of an official interpretation of the 1993 Aliens Law and scarce information on its implementation limits a sufficient assessment of the effectiveness of existing protection regime for stateless persons in the Kyrgyz Republic from being conducted. Conclusion The findings presented in this study are a starting point- in researching and understanding the complex situation of stateless persons in the country, which is a relatively new challenge. Further in depth research is required and should focus on some of the administrative and legal frameworks related to the identification, prevention and reduction of statelessness as well as protection of stateless persons that exist in the Kyrgyz Republic raised in this overview. Administrative and legal systems that do exist in the country allow for the mapping of statelessness problems through the use of population census tools or granting of residence status. These assist in identifying some statelessness situations or establishing the risk thereof through verifying the nationality of people who seek permanent residence in the country. However, these tools and procedures alone are not enough to identify and determine every case of statelessness. They fail to recognize and determine the status of those, who might have certificates of non-affiliation to the nationality of another state but still do not meet some of the residence requirements, such as, for example, solvency or possession of status of immigrants, and therefore are rejected as being documented. As a result, individuals who were denied in obtaining a residence permit maybe left beyond the existing identification and status determination procedures in spite of having poof of statelessness. The laws of the country have a number of clauses that grant nationality to an alien or stateless child and therefore eliminate the risk of statelessness in certain instances. However, existing provisions of acquisition of nationality fail to comply with all international standards and therefore do not prevent certain situations of statelessness from occurring in the earlier stage. Small Changes ‫ ـ‬Big Gains: An Action Plan to Prevent and Reduce Statelessness in the Kyrgyz Republic 80