Leaving No One Behind: Statelessness and the Sustainable Development Goals [H]igh levels of economic and political inequality tend to lead to economic institutions and social arrangements that systematically favor the interests of those with more influence. Such inequitable institutions can generate economic costs. When personal and property rights are enforced only selectively, when budgetary allocations benefit mainly the politically influential, and when the distribution of public services favors the wealthy, both middle and poorer groups end up with unexploited talent.22 The World Bank’s series of reports Voices of the Poor, published in the first years of the twenty-first century, highlighted, moreover, that poor people care as much about civil and political rights, such as freedom of expression, access to justice, or safety and security, as they do about food and water.23 Poverty can be defined not only as material deprivation, accompanied by low levels of achievement in education and health, but also as voicelessness and powerlessness.24 For these reasons “Identifying root causes of poverty requires understanding structural factors that perpetuate it, such as the roles of elites, abuse of State power, or gender discrimination.”25 The key elements of a human rights-based approach to development programming therefore include the principles of equality and non-discrimination, participation and inclusion, accountability and the rule of law.26 This linkage between human rights and development was firmly integrated into the priorities of UN Member States through the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015. The objective of the SDGs to “leave no one behind” was one of “five transformative shifts” called for as the goals were being developed, aimed at ensuring “that no person – regardless of ethnicity, gender, geography, disability, race or other status – is denied universal human rights and basic economic opportunities.”27 States have undertaken that the overall goals and specific targets should be “met for all nations and peoples and for all segments of society” and that “we will endeavour to reach the furthest behind first.”28 The SDGs do not differentiate between nationals and non-nationals.29 And yet non-citizens are generally often subject to exploitation and exclusion from supposedly universal human rights to an extent that goes far beyond the recognized restrictions in relation to political rights and the right to enter a country. Stateless persons, moreover, are “an extremely vulnerable group of non-citizens”.30 The status of stateless persons can vary greatly between different countries and among different groups of stateless people. But while some are legal permanent residents permitted access to a wide range of public services, very many more are subjected to impoverishment and exclusion from access to public services, accompanied by the ever-present risk of arbitrary arrest, detention or – in extreme cases – expulsion from the only country they have ever known. 22. World Bank, “World development report 2006: equity and development” (Washington, D.C., 2006), 2, https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/ handle/10986/5988. 23. Deepa Narayan, Raj Patel, et al., “Voices of the poor: can anyone hear us?” (OUP for World Bank, March 2000), https://documents.worldbank.org/en/ publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/131441468779067441/Voices-of-the-poor-can-anyone-hear-us; Deepa Narayan, Robert Chambers, et al., “Voices of the poor: crying out for change” (Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 2000), https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/13848; Deepa Narayan and Patti Petesch, “Voices of the poor: from many lands” (Washington, DC: World Bank, January 2002), https://openknowledge. worldbank.org/handle/10986/14053. 24. World Bank, “World development report 2000/2001: attacking poverty” (Washington, D.C., 2001), Chap. 1: The nature and evolution of poverty, https:// openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/11856. 25. UNDP, "Human development report 2000", 79. 26. UN Development Group, “The human rights based approach to development cooperation: towards a common understanding among UN Agencies” (Geneva: United Nations, September 2003), https://unsdg.un.org/resources/human-rights-based-approach-development-cooperation-towardscommon-understanding-among-un; see also European Commission, “Applying the human rights based approach to international partnerships: an updated toolbox for placing rights-holders at the centre of EU’s neighbourhood, development and international cooperation”, Commission Staff Working Document SWD(2021) 179 final (Brussels, 30 June 2021), https://international-partnerships.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2021-07/swd-2021human-right-based-approach_en.pdf. 27. High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, “A new global partnership: eradicate poverty and transform economies through sustainable development” (New York: United Nations, 2013), www.post2020hlp.org/wp-content/uploads/docs/UN-Report.pdf. 28. “Transforming our world: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development” (United Nations, 21 October 2015), para. 4, https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda. 29. Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, “Statelessness, human rights and the sustainable development agenda: a working paper” (Tilburg, NL, February 2017), https://files.institutesi.org/SDG_working-paper2017.pdf. 30. Weissbrodt, “The rights of non-citizens: final report of the Special Rapporteur; addendum: examples of practices in regard to non-citizens”, E/CN.4/ Sub.2/2003/23/Add.3 (Geneva: United Nations, 26 May 2003), https://ap.ohchr.org/documents/alldocs.aspx?doc_id=7460. 21