EVALUATION OF UNHCR-LED INITIATIVES TO END STATELESSNESS – FINAL REPORT – VOLUME I more general staffing gaps. At the end of each deployment, handover notes were provided and the performance of each statelessness Surge deployee was evaluated. Based on the evaluations shared with the evaluation team, it would appear that there was a high level of satisfaction among Country Operations and the quality of work done by those deployed was rated consistently positively. Notably, a number of those on the roster were deployed on multiple occasions to different locations and a few individuals who initially deployed on the Surge roster then went on to work within UNHCR on statelessness in longer-term functions. 77. The overall Surge project was closed at the end of 2020. The rationale for its closure was apparently driven by a combination of financial constraints and a perception that as a global project, it was out of step with UNHCR’s overall shift towards decentralization. Throughout its duration, surge appears to have helped fill an important staffing gap within UNHCR, boosting the capacity of Country Operations at strategic moments to develop their thinking on statelessness and allowing UNHCR to offer tangible support to governments and other actors in their efforts to end statelessness. Given chronic challenges in meeting the need for statelessness expertise within the organization, it will be important for UNHCR to consider how to move forward now that the global roster is no longer in place. Overall results and effectiveness Finding 3: UNHCR has substantially elevated the importance of preventing and resolving statelessness, created guiding frameworks and platforms to address many of its causes, and directly prevented and resolved cases of statelessness – globally, in most regions, and in many countries. 78. According to UNHCR, 754,500 stateless persons have acquired nationality in the past decade, 341,000 of whom obtained nationality since the Campaign to End Statelessness was launched. 55 Most key informants believe that UNHCR and its partners have substantially contributed to this overall achievement through its global, regional and country-level advocacy, capacity building, technical support, and protection services. 79. At the global level, UNHCR has effectively leveraged its capacity to convene and mobilize States to increase commitment to ending statelessness. The 2011 Ministerial Intergovernmental Event led to a substantial number of government pledges, significant increase in the number of accessions to the two statelessness conventions and created interest and momentum to address statelessness. In September 2014 UNHCR and Tilburg University hosted the first Global Forum on Statelessness, bringing together 300 participants, including government representatives, staff of UN agencies, NGOs, academics, lawyers, journalists, stateless and formerly stateless persons to discuss statelessness issues and promising practices. UNHCR used this momentum to organize stakeholder consultations that led to the development of the #IBelong Campaign and the GAP. The 2019 HLS and its preparatory meetings and events served to further increase awareness and understanding about the campaign and led to pledges for State action. 80. At a regional level UNHCR has worked to further operationalize government commitments to ending statelessness by contributing to, and in some cases facilitating, dialogues among States and other interested parties, largely based on the efforts of regional statelessness officers. In addition to increasing knowledge and awareness such efforts have resulted in specific regional treaties, agreements and plans of action with obligations for Member States.56 Key informants stressed the importance of regional initiatives as they can help elevate consideration of statelessness above sometimes contentious national political and cultural issues, create positive peer pressure, and share lessons and good practices. Finding 4: UNHCR has directly and indirectly improved the lives of many stateless, formerly stateless, and people at risk of statelessness by giving voice to their rights and working to ensure obstacles to their recognition as equal members of society are addressed. 81. The vast majority of UNHCR’s work on statelessness has remained at the national level, where the authority resides to address the underlying causes of statelessness. Published reports and quarterly updates on the #IBelong Campaign prepared by the Statelessness Section describe a number of achievements since 2014 (see storyline in Section 2). UNHCR, Global Trends – Forced Displacement, 2019. An example of which is the Abidjan Declaration on the Eradication of Statelessness (2015), within which the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) committed to eradicating statelessness. 55 56 UNHCR / May, 2021 23