Stateless Persons in the statistics and the estimated global stateless population, which numbers at least 10 million persons. Annex Table 7 includes some countries (marked with an asterisk) for which UNHCR has information about the existence of significant stateless populations but for which no reliable figures were available. By the end of 2013, statistics on persons falling under UNHCR’s statelessness mandate were available for 75 countries, three more than in 2012 [see Figure 3.1]. This compared to just 30 countries in 2004, and reflected the efforts of UNHCR’s offices to gather better data on statelessness. For 2013, UNHCR’s offices reported a figure of almost 3.5 million stateless persons, slightly higher than that reported in 2012 (3.34 million). This increase was due to the clarification of the status of an estimated 210,000 persons in the Dominican Republic, where a Constitutional Court judgment retroactively applied new nationality criteria. In so doing, the court ruled that many individuals of Haitian descent born in the country since 1929 are not Dominican nationals. As they do not posess any other nationality, they were thus rendered stateless. Meanwhile, there was limited progress to reduce the number of stateless persons through the acquisition or confirmation of nationality. At least 47,200 stateless persons in 19 countries acquired nationality during 2013, far less than in previous years. n Counting the world’s stateless: reflections on statistical reporting on statelessness – by the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion41 – S tatelessness is a problem of global proportion and impact. Around the world, millions of people do not enjoy any nationality, leaving a gaping hole in their lives. For many, statelessness brings real hardship, characterized by lack of access to a wide range of rights and services that others take for granted. Statelessness can even be a factor integral to experiences of acute discrimination and persecution, or give rise to sentiments of an identity lost or denied. Awareness of the human impact of statelessness can offer motivation to address the phenomenon, as a better understanding of the extent and scope of the problem enables a more effective response. As UNHCR’s Executive Committee has outlined, gathering data on stateless INTRODUCTION populations is important to ‘serve as a basis for crafting strategies to address the problem.42 With the launch of the Campaign to End Statelessness in 10 Years, 43 this is an opportune time to explore the ins and outs of statistical reporting on statelessness. This section discusses what the data show about the magnitude and reach of statelessness. It also looks more closely at how statistical reporting on statelessness is organized and what gaps need to be considered by States, UNHCR and other UN agencies, and civil society.44 STATISTICS ON STATELESSNESS States hold the primary responsibility for identifying stateless persons in their territory and subject to their jurisdiction. Doing so allows States to implement their 41 See www.InstituteSI.org , an independent, non-profit organization established to promote the inclusion of the stateless and the disenfranchised. The views and opinions expressed are those of the ISI and do not necessarily represent the views of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 42 UNHCR, Executive Committee, Conclusion on Identification, Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness and Protection of Stateless Persons, No. 106 (LVII), 6 October 2006. 43 See http://ibelong.unhcr.org/en/home.do. 44 This article is based on and includes extracts from the longer report, The World’s Stateless, published by the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion in December 2014 and which contains a more detailed discussion of statelessness statistics across a wide selection of countries. 45 See for example, UNHCR, Executive Committee, Conclusion on Identification, Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness and Protection of Stateless Persons, No. 106 (LVII), 6 October 2006. 46 Refugees International published a ‘global survey’ on statelessness in 2005, with an update issued in 2009, in which data on statelessness from around the world was drawn together in a single overview. It has not undertaken this exercise again since. See Refugees International, Lives on Hold. The Human Cost of Statelessness, written by M. Lynch, 2005, available at: http://www. refintl.org/sites/default/files/LivesonHold.pdf ; and Refugees International, Nationality Rights for All. A Progress Report and Global Survey on Statelessness, written by K. Southwick and M. Lynch, 2009, available at http://www.refintl.org/sites/default/files/RI%20 Stateless%20Report_FINAL_031109.pdf. The US Department of State’s annual Country Reports on Human Rights have a dedicated section on statelessness that often includes data, where available, on the number of stateless persons, but these data are not subsequently compiled in an overview on statelessness around the world. international obligations towards these populations, either under the two UN statelessness conventions or in accordance with the broader body of international human rights law. In the fulfilment of its statelessness mandate, UNHCR’s Executive Committee has also tasked the agency with undertaking and sharing research on various aspects of statelessness, including on the scope of the problem. It has also encouraged States to cooperate with UNHCR in this regard. 45 Other UN agencies, NGOs, and academia also have a role to play in the identification and quantification of situations of statelessness by conducting data collection. Statistics on statelessness are therefore to be found in a diverse array of reports and data sources. Population registries, national censuses, human rights monitoring (by government, UN, or civil society), academic publications, and media reporting on groups affected by statelessness – all may generate information on the scale of the problem. This information is highly dispersed, however, and there have been few exercises in making it readily accessible as a single picture of the scope of statelessness globally. 46 The most comprehensive compilation of data on stateless populations around the world is that collated and updated by UNHCR. As the UN agency mandated to assist States and other stakeholders UNHCR Statistical Yearbook 2013 41