5. The European Network on Statelessness (ENS)7 is a civil society alliance of NGOs, lawyers, academics, and other independent experts committed to addressing statelessness in Europe. Based in London, it currently has over 140 members in 40 European countries, including the Peace Institute in Slovenia. ENS organises its work around three pillars – law and policy development, awareness-raising and capacity-building. ENS provides expert advice and support to a range of stakeholders, including governments. Previous UPR of SLOVENIA under the First and Second Cycle 6. Slovenia was previously reviewed during the 7th session in 2010 (First Cycle) and the 20th session in 2014 (Second Cycle). Slovenia received 12 recommendations relevant to nationality and statelessness under each Cycle. In the second cycle, Slovenia accepted, among others, ten recommendations on acquisition of Slovenian citizenship by so-called erased persons. These recommendations were made by France, India, Ireland, Sierra Leone, Portugal, UK, Uruguay, Venezuela, Australia and Czechia. This was similar to the first cycle, when eight such recommendations were accepted. Despite this being a significant issue, and Slovenia accepting these recommendations, the country has failed to take adequate measures to implement them. 7. Slovenia also ‘noted’ one recommendation under each of the first two cycles. This included a recommendation by Hungary to accede to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Slovenia’s International obligations 8. Slovenia is party to the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (1954 Convention) to which it acceded in 1992 with its independence from the former Yugoslavia, which acceded to it in 1959. 8 However, it has not acceded to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, and noted the Hungarian recommendation to do so during the second cycle in 2014. 9. Slovenia has a good record of accession to core international human rights treaties relevant to the prevention of statelessness and the protection of stateless persons. These include the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). 10. Slovenia has many obligations under these treaties, including protecting the right to a nationality for all, preventing and reducing statelessness, prohibiting discrimination against minorities and stateless persons, and registering the birth of every child. For example, Article 7 of the CRC obligates states to register every child immediately after 7 For more information about the European Network on Statelessness, see: www.statelessness.eu. 8 Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, Seventeenth Session, Supplement, No. 1 (E/2596), p. 12. 2