Regional Conference on Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness and Protection of Stateless Persons in Central Asia Аshgabat, 9-10 December 2009 Summary Overview Introduction In Central Asia, statelessness was one of several challenges successor States had to deal with following the break-up of the Soviet Union. These problems have been compounded in recent years by a combination of complex laws and procedures as well as international migration. Although significant progress has been made in resolving the situation of stateless persons by granting them an effective nationality, tens of thousands of individuals in the region remain stateless or with undetermined nationality. In recognition of these challenges, during 2009 UNHCR organized a regional process with governments, which included a series of national roundtables and culminated in a Regional Conference in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan on 9-10 December 2009. The Regional Conference on Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness and Protection of Stateless Persons in Central Asia was organised by UNHCR in cooperation with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Government of Turkmenistan. Among the goals of the Conference were the sharing of best practices related to the identification of stateless persons and solutions to statelessness, including legislative reform to bring nationality laws into line with international standards and thereby prevent new cases of statelessness. The Conference also sought to reach agreement among the government representatives present on a set of recommendations on how to address remaining problems and gaps related to statelessness in the region. The Conference followed national roundtables held in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. In these roundtables, governments demonstrated a commitment to the identification of stateless persons through population census and surveys. Governments also indicated a willingness to consider amending legislative provisions in order to eliminate gaps which cause statelessness. They also expressed willingness to work to ensure that stateless persons and persons of undetermined nationality can acquire or confirm nationality and enjoy basic rights. On the basis of these discussions, action plans on statelessness are being developed with participating governments. The prevention of statelessness and resolution of existing situations generally require the joint efforts of several government agencies – and at times even the cooperation of other States. It was thus recognized that a regional conference may serve as a forum to engender greater information exchange and cooperation between States in matters relating to nationality and statelessness. This overview summarizes the discussions and presentations at the Regional Conference in Ashgabat. During the Conference, presentations were made by government participants from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, experts from UNHCR 9 Small Changes ‫ ـ‬Big Gains: An Action Plan to Prevent and Reduce Statelessness in the Kyrgyz Republic