Background to the High-Level Segment on Statelessness Regional organizations have played a pivotal role in advocating for legislative and policy changes to protect stateless persons in their Member States. Prior to the HLS, a number of regional preparatory meetings were held in order to prepare States, international/regional organizations and civil society organizations for the HLS.2 These meetings included workshops during which UNHCR provided detailed guidance on the types of pledges to be delivered. The outcomes of these preparatory meetings were significant and helped pave the way for hundreds of concrete, timebound and measurable pledges to be made at the HLS itself. On 7 October 2019, the HLS gave States an opportunity to highlight their achievements to date and make pledges to be implemented during the second half of the #IBelong Campaign. International organizations (including other UN agencies), regional organizations and civil society organizations also made pledges. A total of 360 pledges were made. 252 of these pledges were made by 66 States and 108 pledges by 32 international/regional organizations and civil society organizations. Implementation of these pledges will be vital in addressing the myriad causes of statelessness and in identifying and protecting stateless persons pending their acquisition of a nationality. The HLS included a panel discussion with the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed; UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi; High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Lamberto Zannier; UNHCR’s Goodwill Ambassador, Cate Blanchett; and an advocate and activist for the rights of stateless persons, who was formerly stateless herself, Maha Mamo. This was followed by a General Debate during which States noted their achievements and made pledges for additional work on statelessness. The HLS also included a Treaty Event and a Civil Society Event. During the Treaty Event, Angola acceded to the 1954 Convention and the 1961 Convention and Colombia ratified the 1954 Convention. The Treaty Event also paid tribute to the 15 other States that had become party to either of or both those Conventions since the launch of the #IBelong Campaign. The Civil Society Event showcased the achievements and vital efforts made by nongovernmental organizations in advocating for the right to a nationality for all. Those who shared their experiences at the event came from a range of countries and regional civil society networks. On the evening of 7 October 2019, Azizbek Ashurov, the head of Ferghana Valley Lawyers without Borders, was honored with the prestigious 2019 Nansen Award, becoming the first person ever to win the award for work on statelessness. 2 The regional preparatory meetings were held in Abidjan, Almaty, Bangkok, Casablanca, Centurion, Madrid, Minsk, Nairobi, N’Djamena, Nur-Sultan, Saly and Santiago between June 2018 and August 2019. Reports from those meetings are available at https://www.unhcr.org/ibelong/high-level-segment-statelessness/. 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 5