Leaving No One Behind: Statelessness and the Sustainable Development Goals
In some countries where registration and documentation of nationality and risks of statelessness are a known
issue but politically sensitive, their SDCFs instead include a focus on questions of legal identity, for example
in Nepal (in the predecessor to its SDCF)215 or the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic SDCF notably
also mentions the “Dominican population awaiting resolution of nationality” (población dominicana pendiente
de solución de nacionalidad) within a graphic of vulnerable groups in the country.216 These documents
provide a foundation for government programming in collaboration with the United Nations, for engagement
by civil society nationally, and for support from other development actors.
There are other cases, however, where neither statelessness nor legal identity feature in the SDCF, even
though statelessness is a known problem.217 On the other hand, there are countries likely to be hosting large
numbers of stateless people, whose SDCF does not include mention of statelessness or legal identity, even
though the country has adopted a national action plan to address statelessness and there would presumably
be little or no opposition to including statelessness within the development framework: for example,
Nigeria.218
For the World Bank, the equivalent document is the Country Partnership Framework (CPF), based on a
Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD). The diagnostic aims to identify the constraints to and opportunities
for reducing poverty, as well as the most important contributions the World Bank can make. Evaluations
are carried out midway through and upon completion of the CPF cycle.219 Other development banks and
agencies have their own equivalent tools.
215. United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) Nepal 2018–2022 https://nepal.un.org/en/91050-undaf-nepal-2018-2022.
216. Marco de Cooperación de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo Sostenible (UNSDCF) Republica Dominicana 2023–2027, signed 24 May 2023 p.
48 https://dominicanrepublic.un.org/es/232965-marco-de-cooperaci%C3%B3n-de-las-naciones-unidas-para-el-desarrollo-sostenible-2023-2027.
217. For example: Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) India 2023-2027, 16 June 2023 https://india.un.org/en/237299-unitednations-sustainable-development-cooperation-framework-2023-2027.
218. Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) Nigeria 2023–2027, 5 December 2022 https://nigeria.un.org/en/214596-unitednations-sustainable-development-cooperation-framework-unsdcf-2023-2027.
219. World Bank Country Engagement www.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/country-strategies.
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