An Evaluation of Pledges to Eradicate Statelessness in the SADC INTRODUCTION The 2018 Global Compact on Refugees (hereafter “GCR”) (UNHCR, 2018) is a voluntarist and non-binding commitment by various stakeholders – state and nonstate – to establish and operationalize a collective framework for burden-sharing. Appearing in no substantive provision of the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (hereafter “UN Refugee Convention”), burdensharing has remained a lacuna in the international refugee protection framework. States in the Global South host the vast majority of refugees with middle- to lowincome countries bearing most of the load while the Global North has persistently engaged in efforts to deter those seeking asylum and circumvent their obligations. The GCR is an attempt to address these imbalances by providing a platform for, among other things, various stakeholders to pledge assistance to affected populations. Questions exist as to whether this nascent project can make substantial progress toward burden-sharing. While the GCR is focused on refugees, other displaced communities and stateless persons are and can be included within its mandate. A person is stateless if they are not considered a national by any state under the operation of its laws, as per Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention. Without the vital link between an individual and their state, a person cannot access basic rights and services that they need to live a normal life. Stateless persons are largely left unprotected and unnoticed. In the Southern African Development Community (hereafter “SADC”) – consistent with a more global pattern – there is insufficient data on the number of stateless persons. This makes it difficult for states to adequately design policy and improve infrastructure to include stateless persons. There have been several encouraging improvements in the region to eradicate statelessness; however, these rely on participation across spheres of government and significant resources. This paper explores to what degree the GCR and its pledging system have been able to contribute to the adoption of measures to eradicate statelessness in the SADC region. Central to the GCR and the pledging system is a developmental approach – long-term funding directed at expanding national and local infrastructure to include non-nationals and to offer greater opportunities for self-reliance. To that end, the GCR has facilitated or accompanied several stateless-specific events that used the pledging system and functions against the backdrop of a larger, global effort to eradicate statelessness. The focal point of this effort is the Global Alliance to End Statelessness launched in 2024 as the successor of the decade-long IBelong campaign. By embracing a multi-stakeholder approach, the pledging system may be able to strengthen state adherence to human rights norms through normative standards (Arnold-Fernández, 2023: 8). However, the pledging system must still navigate its voluntarist and non-binding nature among rising levels of protracted displacement and statelessness. The discussion is divided into three parts. Part I reflects on the Global Compact by outlining its structure, aims and objectives, the approach it has taken, and the role of the pledges. Eradicating statelessness, while not a major feature of the GCR, has 111