EVALUATION OF UNHCR-LED INITIATIVES TO END STATELESSNESS – FINAL REPORT – VOLUME I 126. UNHCR has invested in civil society organization and NGO capacities at country level, including women’s rights organizations among others. Some implementing partners shared the impression that UNHCR engagement has been opportunistic, time-limited and project based and that sustaining their involvement once partnership agreements and funding have expired is not feasible for them. At the same time, CSOs and NGOs value the relationships UNHCR has with governments and the direct access this gives them, which allows UNHCR to link partners to key policy advocacy efforts. 127. In a few cases partners noted divergent tactics around advocacy, with CSOs and NGOs more willing to publicly and strongly advocate for changes in government policies and practice, while UNHCR has sometimes preferred a quieter diplomatic approach out of concerns about political sensitivity. Different approaches and risk tolerance should not be mutually exclusive and the combination of vocal public advocacy with discreet diplomatic interventions by different actors working in coordination could be most influential. For example, in Cote d’Ivoire UNHCR has funded an implementing partner that works with the media and at community levels (using participatory theatre, mobile cinema, and radio shows in local languages) to raise awareness in the hope of depoliticizing statelessness issues over time. 128. Global and regional partnerships - UNHCR works with a wide range of different partners at global and regional levels to address statelessness. Annex 11 provides additional details about key global partnerships. Member States participate in the Geneva-based Friends of the Campaign to End Statelessness group to align diplomatic efforts with the achievement of the goals of Campaign. Participation in the Friends group has ranged from 15-20 Member States since its inception in 2015. A smaller core group of about 6 countries shape the agenda for meetings and rotate hosting duties. The group serves as an “ally” to UNHCR in addressing statelessness where they can leverage their diplomatic influence through bilateral diplomatic advocacy and efforts to ensure statelessness is prioritized in various multi-lateral fora. The group is strongly supported by inputs from the Statelessness Section. Its work has included issuing joint statements at the HLS, and targeted recommendations to particular States in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process under the auspices of the Human Rights Council and in the Commission on Human Rights. 129. Regional organizations – such as the African Union (AU), the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC), the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), the League of Arab States (LAS), and the Organization of American States (OAS) – have been important partners for UNHCR in underlining the importance of actions by their Member States to address statelessness, nationality issues, and developing regional declarations and plans of action related to statelessness. National government, regional economic commission, and regional NGO network key informants appreciated UNHCR’s support for these regional initiatives and suggested this played a key role in the declarations and action plans adopted by regional inter-governmental bodies. They noted that regional initiatives have created reference points to guide national government action, led to greater sensitization of government actors and generated political will to act, including through accessions to the two Conventions and development of national initiatives and action plans. There are also efforts to enhance collaboration with other regional bodies, including the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). 130. One of the longest-standing, and important global partnerships is between UNHCR and the InterParliamentary Union (IPU). The two organizations jointly published a Handbook on Nationality and Statelessness in 2005, and subsequently updated it in 2014. In 2018 they published an additional resource on Good Practices in Nationality Laws for the Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness, building on the results of a 2015 conference co-hosted by UNHCR, IPU and the Parliament of South Africa which brought together representatives from the parliaments of 39 countries to discuss ensuring everyone’s right to a nationality. UNHCR and the IPU have also held briefings and webinars for parliamentarians to raise awareness of specific legislative approaches for statelessness. 131. Although UNHCR has established a wide array of partnerships and collaborated with many organizations leading up to, and during, the campaign, it has not organized the campaign in the form of a global coalition. There is no overarching membership aspect of the campaign, nor a governance structure beyond that of UNHCR itself. In contrast, the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights (GCENR) and the Coalition on Every Child’s Right to a Nationality have formal organizational membership aspects and GCENR has a steering committee made up of other organizations (including UNHCR). Due to capacity constraints in DER and DIP efforts to coordinate among partners appear to be mostly through bilateral means, though UNHCR sponsors an annual meeting of CSOs bringing together a range of organizations. Some NGO/CSO partners noted that they did not feel they had substantial influence over the campaign after the period leading up to its creation when a core group was highly involved in shaping the GAP. A UNHCR / May, 2021 39