Parliamentarians can raise awareness about statelessness among their constituents by making speeches about it and about the importance of sound nationality legislation, writing newspapers articles about the need to eliminate statelessness, working with NGOs and other civil society actors who assist stateless persons, and, where applicable, advocating for the speedy resolution of individual cases of statelessness. Parliamentarians can solve situations of statelessness by promoting the rights of minorities or other groups to become part of the body of citizens that constitutes the State, and by fostering dialogue among communities that will lead to the acceptance of stateless individuals as nationals. What can parliamentarians do to encourage international cooperation on the issue? International cooperation is essential for reducing the incidence of statelessness around the world. Parliamentarians should ensure that their governments participate fully in all international efforts to reduce or eliminate statelessness and in all efforts to resolve individual cases of statelessness. Parliamentarians might consider inviting parliamentarians of neighbouring States to hold a regional review of their nationality legislation. Harmonizing nationality laws among States is a good way to reduce the incidence of statelessness. 52

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents