© UNHCR/Mark Henley Panel discussion on statelessness A discussion between UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, Cate Blanchett and stateless activist Maha Mamo opens the high-level segment on statelessness “The environment that we’re in is actually much more difficult than the one we were in when … the #IBelong Campaign started. I think that that is something we need to take into account. We are facing, across the world, a lot of pushback, a lot of people becoming more inclusive of their own, and exclusive of others. … The UN provides us a platform to convene, to have these conversations, and … in all the speeches … that all of us here have made in the last year, none has been more powerful than the experience of Maha. That is what really moves hearts and minds and gets you to leave this room and say “[how can I use my power to] make a change?”” Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations “Two weeks ago, UNHCR gave me the honor of going to Kyrgyzstan to meet the incredible recipient of this year’s Nansen Award, Azizbek Ashurov. … I got to meet him and to learn about statelessness firsthand. This incredible, remarkable human being … has ended statelessness in his nation. … I met some people whose lives have been turned around because of this, and they all said one thing to me. … They said, “we didn’t feel like human beings.” It is a huge statement to try and comprehend, and I don’t think many of us can unless we have been in the shoes of a stateless person.” Anita Rani, British TV journalist and presenter 10 U N H C R > H I G H - L E V E L S E G M E N T O N S T A T E L E S S N E S S : R E S U LT S A N D H I G H L I G H T S