Good Practices Brochure: Stateless Women and Girls
laws5. In November 2014, the #IBelong Campaign was launched
to bring about global collaboration to end statelessness within 10
years.6 Also, it directly advances target 16.9 of the United Nations
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): By 2030, provide legal
identity for all, including birth registration. Ending statelessness also
contributes to SDG targets related to gender equality, education,
work and health, among others.7 The United Nations SecretaryGeneral has provided guidance to the United Nations system on
institutional arrangements to improve its coordinated response to
statelessness.8
At the eightieth meeting of the Standing Committee of the Office
of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on
23–25 March 2021, the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN),
representing a wide range of non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), delivered the NGO Statement on Asia and the Pacific.9
The statement urges UNHCR and States in the region to address
the severe ongoing rights violations affecting refugees, especially
women and girls. It also highlights that in order to sharpen the
gender focus of a response, it is important to consider the multiple
and intersecting forms of discrimination experienced by lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer and other (LGBTIQ+) people
alongside those experienced by women and girls.
This brochure aims to provide practical guidance on including
stateless women and girls in humanitarian programming and
coordination by highlighting five case studies that illustrate good
practices and examples in humanitarian settings. The NGO Statement
on Asia and the Pacific emphasizes protecting and access rights for
displaced and stateless women and girls and gender-diverse people.
Their participation in the risk and impact assessments and COVID-19
response plan is essential to be inclusive and gender-responsive.
5
https://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?page=search&docid=
54f8377d4&skip=0&query=Action%203:%20Removing%20Gender%20
Discrimination%20from%20Nationality%20Laws
6
https://www.unhcr.org/ibelong/
7
https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/58b6e3364.pdf
8
https://www.refworld.org/docid/5c580e507.html
9
https://www.icvanetwork.org/ngo-statements-delivered-unhcr-standingcommittee
4