presented a breakthrough in attempts to improve the position of stateless persons and secure their access to rights. Article 1 of the Convention defines a stateless person as ‘a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law’. It also clearly sets out the rights that the contracting parties undertake to afford to stateless persons in a manner ‘as favourable as possible’. According to the Convention, stateless persons ought to enjoy the same rights as nationals with respect to freedom of religion and education of their children. When it comes to the right to association, employment, and housing, stateless individuals should receive treatment not less favourable than other aliens. Several years later, in 1961, the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness8 envisaged a number of instruments and guarantees that contribute to the elimination of statelessness. Serbia has ratified both of these conventions. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has a mandate for stateless persons. This mandate initially only covered refugees who were also stateless, but this was extended by the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness to also include individuals covered by the Convention. Since 2014, the UNHCR has been pursuing a campaign with the hashtag #IBelong9, which aims at eradicating statelessness worldwide by 2024 (when the campaign is set to end). The campaign aims to address the existing cases of statelessness and prevent new ones, and to identify and protect stateless persons. UNHCR Representation in Serbia has been working to prevent and eradicate statelessness for years. Past surveys have revealed that this issue mainly afflicts a number of ethnic minorities living in Serbia, namely the Roma, Ashkalis, and Egyptians, as well as internally displaced persons (IDPs) originally from Kosovo and Metohija. Some of these individuals are unable to secure birth registration and obtain personal documents, which prevents them from leaving the vicious circle of social marginalisation and discrimination. To date, the UNHCR has co-operated with institutions responsible for civil registers (the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Government) and other stakeholders involved in issues of nationality and problems that arise when people attempt to obtain personal identity documents. Over the past decade, Serbia has shown strong commitment to resolving the issue of statelessness, which resulted in a major decline in the number of legally invisible persons and those at risk of statelessness. Serbia’s efforts have also been recognised at the international level, with some Serbian statutory arrangements copied by countries in the region and thus presenting a good practice example. Nevertheless, the issue of persons at risk of statelessness is yet to be completely addressed, and more needs to be done to prevent escalation of legal invisibility amongst the RAE population in Serbia. In this respect, it is very important to ensure timely birth and citizenship registration for children whose parents lack personal identity documents and so prevent the problem from being passed on from one generation to the next. New challenges have also recently arisen that could have adverse effects in the future. Key objective of this Survey is to identify, and pinpoint existing and possible new issues related to the risk of statelessness. 10 8 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 9 #IBelong, unhcr.org/ibelong. PERSONS AT RISK OF STATELESSNESS IN SERBIA OVERVIEW OF CURRENT SITUATION AND THE WAY FORWARD