In April and May in Somalia, UNHCR undertook consultations with senior government officials of the Ministry of Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation to discuss the implementation of Somalia’s High-Level Segment pledges, including accession to both statelessness conventions. This effort resulted in the appointment of a statelessness focal point within the Ministry of Interior who will work with UNHCR to facilitate the development of a national action plan to end statelessness in Somalia by 2024. On 1 April, the Swedish Organization Against Statelessness (SOAS) was officially registered as an NGO in Sweden. Its main goals are to raise awareness of statelessness issues, empower stateless persons, and work towards ending statelessness in Sweden in line with UNHCR’s #IBelong Campaign. As a member organization of the European Network on Statelessness, SOAS will seek to advocate for policy and legislative changes that ensure the protection of stateless persons and the enjoyment of their basic rights, working in consultation with stateless persons themselves as well as recognized experts in relevant fields. In March and April in Italy, UNHCR organized webinars on statelessness for students of the International Human Rights Law Clinic of Turin’s International University College and delivered a comprehensive remote training to law students of the University of Naples. Both trainings, delivered by UNHCR and representatives of Tavolo Apolidia, an NGO network on statelessness in Italy, fit within a broader strategy aimed at establishing statelessness legal clinics in the main Italian cities and increasing outreach and legal support to stateless persons. On 4 June in Rabat, Morocco, UNHCR organized a webinar on “Statelessness: Causes, Consequences and Prevention Measures” for around 40 students of the Mohamed V University, Faculty of Law and its Legal Clinic. On 10 June, UNHCR also organized a webinar on statelessness prevention and birth registration for approximately 40 NGO members of the Protection Working Group of the Casablanca and Oriental Region. Both trainings aimed to raise awareness of statelessness and strengthen capacity to assist migrants and refugees with birth registration as well as to identify persons at risk of statelessness. On 9 July, the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, Open Society Justice Initiative and Rights and Security International organized a webinar entitled “Citizenship stripping, expulsion and statelessness: Have counter-terrorism measures gone too far?”. The webinar was held as a side event to the UN Virtual Counter-Terrorism Week. Implementation of the Global Action Plan In line with Action 1, Resolve existing major situations of statelessness, on 24 April, the President of the Russian Federation signed Federal Law No. 134FZ, which simplifies the acquisition of citizenship by naturalization. The new law eliminates the requirement to renounce foreign citizenship before applying for Russian citizenship, thereby avoiding situations of legal limbo and potential statelessness. The law will furthermore allow stateless former citizens of USSR to benefit from simplified conditions when applying for Russian citizenship. As of 24 July, when the new law enters into force, the five-year legal residence and proof of income requirements will be waived for this group. With regard to Action 1 and Action 6, Protect stateless persons and facilitate their naturalization, UNHCR and the Ministry of Interior of Tajikistan signed a joint work plan for the implementation of the recently enacted Amnesty Law legalizing stateless persons and foreign citizens irregularly residing in the country. The work plan includes a national information campaign to inform the affected population of the new legal provisions and urge them to take advantage of the opportunity to regularize their status in the country. A hotline number for free legal counseling will be available as part of the information campaign. 3