MAY 2021 Introduction Millions of people are believed to be stateless – they are not considered as nationals of any county. The exact number of stateless people is unknown; however, according to statistics reported at the end of 2019, there are 4.1 million stateless people worldwide – over 50 per cent of them in Asia and the Pacific.1 People become stateless for a variety of reasons; gaps or conflicting provisions in nationality law, discrimination against ethnic or religious groups, or lack of identity documentation over generations. It also occurs due to gender discrimination. Some 25 States do not allow women to transfer nationality to their children, and statelessness can occur where fathers are stateless, unknown, deceased, or where the laws of the fathers’ country do not permit conferral of nationality.2 Stateless women and girls experience particular gender-related barriers, and the pandemic further exacerbated their vulnerability. Increased sexual and gender-based violence, including domestic and intimate partner violence, and unprecedented socioeconomic impacts have threatened their lives. Extra caregiving at home, often without personal protection equipment, school dropouts due to excess demands at home, increased forced marriage and early pregnancy are the major factors that threaten to reverse hard-won gains on gender equality.3 Collaboration among international and regional organizations, civil society organizations and stateless people is essential to resolve existing significant situations of statelessness and prevent new cases from emerging. Global action must support the full participation and leadership of refugee, displaced and stateless women in crisis response and recovery plans. The Global Action Plan to End Statelessness, 2014–20244 was developed in consultation with States, civil society and international organizations setting out a guiding framework made up of 10 Actions – one of which is to remove gender discrimination from nationality 1 https://www.unhcr.org/globaltrends2019/ 2 https://www.refworld.org/docid/604257d34.html 3 https://www.unhcr.org/news/press/2021/3/604524674/covid-19-pandemicworsening-gender-inequalities-refugee-women-girls.html 4 https://www.unhcr.org/ibelong/global-action-plan-2014-2024/ 3