Leaving No One Behind: Statelessness and the Sustainable Development Goals Foreword Statelessness is one of the most entrenched barriers to human dignity, development, and social cohesion. Stateless persons are often excluded from healthcare, education, financial services and formal employment. They cannot vote, and may not be able to own real property. The consequences extend beyond individuals - when entire communities are locked out of economic and social systems, societies lose skilled workers, tax revenues shrink, and generational poverty takes root, further widening inequalities. This report underscores the urgency of integrating statelessness into development programming. It highlights how the lack of a recognized nationality creates barriers to poverty reduction, access to education and healthcare, economic participation, and social cohesion. The evidence presented is clear: resolving statelessness is not only a matter of human rights and legal protection but also a necessary investment in economic growth, stability, and inclusive and sustainable development. Addressing statelessness is both a moral and practical imperative. This report provides a roadmap for policymakers, development practitioners, and international organizations to ensure that stateless persons are fully included in development strategies. The report also shows how development interventions can contribute to identifying and protecting stateless persons and how development actors can have a lasting impact on the prevention and reduction of statelessness – and help achieve the ultimate objective of eradicating statelessness. Ending statelessness is essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and building more just and resilient societies. The reforms needed to end statelessness, eliminating discrimination in nationality laws, ensuring universal birth registration, and providing accessible naturalization processes, are not a given. They require making the investment case for action and securing political will. Ending statelessness is a critical step toward economic and social inclusion and ensuring that stateless people and communities are not left behind. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) - entrusted with the mandate to prevent and reduce statelessness and to protect stateless persons - is fully committed to this cause in support of governments. But we cannot achieve this alone. We need development partners, civil society and affected stateless communities to make this goal a reality. Ruven Menikdiwela Assistant High Commissioner for Protection UNHCR 8