. Identification re ention and reduction o state essness exercise their voting rights, perform military service, or attempt to access government services. Moreover, the issue of nationality and statelessness may arise when an individual’s right to be in a country is challenged in removal procedures.54 It is an implicit obligation of States party to the 1954 Convention to identify stateless persons within their jurisdictions in order to provide them with appropriate treatment and a range of rights, including juridical status, gainful employment, welfare, and administrative measures.55 Naturally, States that are not State Parties should also identify stateless persons so that they can become aware of the nature and magnitude of the problem and identify appropriate solutions. The 1954 Convention, however, is silent on how States are to determine whether an individual is stateless. Identification goes beyond the acquisition of basic statistics on the number of stateless persons. In fact, it requires a broad “mapping” of the statelessness situation, including populations at risk of statelessness, and their profiles and needs. There are a number of identification tools, such as mapping exercises, nationality verification campaigns, and statelessness determination procedures, which can be efficient mechanisms for States to identify their nationals and beneficiaries of the 1954 Convention.56 In 2011, UNHCR commissioned a guidance document on measuring stateless populations, which provides practical information on how to plan and implement a mapping exercise with the necessary methodology and research tools.57 The results of a mapping project may also be used to determine or improve the allocation of resources to deal with statelessness. They can also provide valuable information when advocating for government target-setting to facilitate the prevention and reduction of statelessness over the longer term. This, for example, might include suggesting ways to improve birth registration procedures and practices. The identification and risks of statelessness include: — assessing the scale of the problem (numbers, geographical spread etc.); — establishing the profile of the population affected (demographic composition, including data disaggregated by sex, age and ethnicity, 42