INTRODUCTION An estimated 12 million people are stateless worldwide. A stateless person is defined as someone who is “not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law,”1 and is thus someone without any nationality or citizenship anywhere.2 Addressing statelessness is a foundational and integral part of UN efforts to strengthen the rule of law.3 Statelessness undermines the rule of law due to both its causes and consequences. It often arises from discrimination and arbitrary laws or practices, and stateless persons cannot enjoy full equality with citizens in any country. Statelessness results in widespread denial of human rights and the phenomenon of statelessness itself violates the universal human right to a nationality. Statelessness often leads to limits on access to birth registration, identity documentation, education, health care, legal employment, property ownership, political participation and freedom of movement. Women are at heightened risk of statelessness, rendering them particularly susceptible to a range of abuse. Stateless children also suffer acute vulnerabilities; deprived of their rights in childhood as a result of their status diminishes their chances for better futures. The cycle of statelessness and marginalization is difficult to break. Statelessness has a detrimental impact not only on individuals concerned but also on societies more generally, in particular, because excluding entire sectors of a population can create social and political tensions and significantly impair efforts to promote economic and social development. Action by the UN to address the causes and consequences of statelessness is an essential component of both conflict prevention efforts as well as social, economic, and legal development agendas. Statelessness is also often closely related to discrimination against specific groups, including women and racial, ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, or on the basis of perceived national origin. Where statelessness has been a contributing factor to conflict, initiatives to grant nationality to stateless populations should be incorporated into programmes to restore justice and the rule of law, including effective public administration. Acquisition of nationality by individuals who have strong links to a State based on factors such as birth on the territory, descent and residence is a key means of giving them a stake in society. 1 As defined in article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, a definition considered by the International Law Commission to form part of customary international law. International Law Commission, Draft Articles on Diplomatic Protection with Commentaries, 2006, p.49. In addition to stateless persons who fall under the internationally recognized legal definition, there are also groups and individuals who are referred to as de facto stateless persons. While the term de facto stateless persons has been used in a variety of contexts, there is a growing consensus that at a minimum this concept includes persons who possess a nationality but are outside their country of nationality and unable or, for valid reasons, unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that country. For the purposes of this Guidance Note, all references to “stateless persons” denote those who meet the international definition of a stateless person in article 1 of the 1954 Statelessness Convention. 2 In this Guidance Note, the terms nationality and citizenship are used interchangeably to describe the legal bond between an individual (the national or citizen) and a State. While both terms are often used interchangeably in public international law, it should be noted that on the national level, these terms are often given distinct meanings. 3 The Secretary General of the UN defines the rule of law as “a principle of governance in which all persons, institutions and entities, public or private, including the State itself, are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced and independently adjudicated, and which are consistent with international human rights norms and standards.” Report of the Secretary General: The Rule of Law and Transitional Justice in Conflict and Post-Conflict Societies, para. 6 (2004). -2-