EVALUATION OF UNHCR-LED INITIATIVES TO END STATELESSNESS – FINAL REPORT – VOLUME I proxy measure. The confidentiality and all interviews, consultations, and survey responses was stressed with each participant and informed consent verbally obtained before collecting data from individuals. 22. An undetermined number of UNHCR operations incorporate statelessness work in their plans and budgets for work on refugees, returnees, and IDPs, even though statelessness has its own pillar in the planning and budget structure. Key informants explained that this happens sometimes to reduce administrative burdens associated with creating a separate budget and plan, as well as the belief that certain activities span multiple pillars. Thus, a potentially substantial amount of statelessness expenditures is not identifiable for analysis.15 23. COVID-19 imposed several limitations on the evaluation, mainly related to the inability of evaluation team members to conduct face-to-face conversations with key stakeholders due to travel restrictions. This may have somewhat limited the richness in understanding of specific country operation contexts that can only be obtained through in-person interactions and observation. A lack of in-person communication also made meeting certain stakeholders more challenging, particularly government representatives. 24. Staff turnover in some country operations and regional operations occasionally created challenges in building out storylines and understanding changes in the prioritization of certain activities. UNHCR helped to mitigate these situations by passing on the contact details of people who had previously been in specific posts, where possible. Key informants’ capacity to recall events from the earlier periods covered by the evaluation was also limited in some instances. Recall bias and limitations were addressed to the extent possible by triangulating interview data with records and documents. 25. The remainder of this report presents the context for the global campaign followed by key findings and supporting evidence, conclusions and recommendations for UNHCR. 4. Context for the global campaign 26. This section frames the subject of the evaluation based on the context within which UNHCR’s statelessness work, and the global campaign, operate. It presents the overarching legal framework, key drivers of statelessness, a historical global storyline of key milestones and events, the ambitions of the campaign and the GAP, and UNHCR’s structure for statelessness work. Information about ongoing internal UNHCR reforms is provided in Annex 13. 4.1 Legal framework 27. States possess the sovereign competence to determine their citizenship criteria, consistent with the obligations of international law, including rules to acquire or lose nationality. 16 The States’ discretion to grant nationality is limited by international treaties to which they are parties, as well as customary international law and general principles of law. 17 The 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons is the cornerstone of the international protection regime for stateless persons. This Convention defines a stateless person and establishes minimum standards of treatment with respect to their rights, such as the right to education, employment, and housing. The 1954 Convention also guarantees stateless people a right to an identity paper without exception, travel documents and administrative assistance, as well as facilitated access to naturalization. 28. The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness requires that States establish safeguards in legislation to prevent or reduce statelessness occurring at birth or later in life. The 1961 Convention sets out important safeguards to prevent statelessness due to loss or renunciation of nationality or state succession. It identifies very limited situations in which States can deprive a person of nationality, even if this would leave the person stateless. Regional treaties establish additional obligations to prevent statelessness by States parties.18 Other international instruments also contain provisions relating to the right to a nationality, protection of stateless persons and the prevention of statelessness. These instruments include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the 15 See Section 5.3 for further information about the reasons and incentives cited for this. UNHCR’s What is Statelessness. https://www.unhcr.org/ibelong/wp-content/uploads/UNHCR-Statelessness-2pager-ENG.pdf Ibid. 18 Ibid. 16 17 8 UNHCR / May, 2021