INTRODUCTION This research came about as a result of the longstanding relationship between the Macedonian Young Lawyers Association (MYLA), Praxis from Serbia, Vaša Prava BiH from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Information Legal Centre (ILC) from Croatia, Civil Rights Program Kosovo (CRPK) and the Legal Centre from Montenegro. After working individually on projects supported by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), these organizations decided in 2012 to increase their everyday collaboration. At a joint meeting in Sarajevo that year they formed the Western Balkan Legal Aid Network (WeBLAN). The main purposes for which the network was formed are the protection, promotion and advancement of human rights, and the collective struggle against discrimination and social exclusion in the Western Balkans. The Western Balkans has over the years witnessed refugee crises, internal displacement and widespread discrimination. In addition to these issues, statelessness has arisen as a particular phenomenon in all of these countries who, until 1990/1991 were part of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Due to internal displacement between Yugoslav states, after the dissolution of Yugoslavia a large number of people, from different ethnic backgrounds, were left without any effective citizenship. In some cases, their children and grandchildren are faced with the same problem. Every member of WeBLAN, working on projects on the prevention of statelessness supported by the UNHCR, regularly encounters individuals faced with serious problems due to a lack of citizenship. Some examples of these problems include: inability to have their children’s births recorded in the birth registry, a lack of access to healthcare, education employment, acquisition of property and so on. The aim of this research is to show the situation regarding statelessness in each of the countries of the Western Balkan, particularly focusing on the reasons for statelessness and the everyday problems this raises. Additionally, the research explores each country’s legal framework for addressing this matter, the provision of protections for these individuals, the international instruments that each country has adopted, as well as the actions each NGO takes in order to raise awareness of, and successfully combat, this phenomenon. Martina Smilevska President