greater detail in instruments such as the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (hereafter. ‘the 1961 Convention’), although this Convention has an even more limited number of States Parties than the 1954 Convention.119 As noted earlier, its Final Act recommends explicitly that ‘persons who are stateless de facto should as far as possible be treated as stateless persons de jure to enable them to acquire an effective nationality’. The 1961 Convention has been supplemented by the Draft Articles on the Nationality of Natural Persons in Relation to Succession of States120 and by numerous resolutions of the General Assembly121 and of the Human Rights Council.122 The General Assembly has emphasized the role of States in protecting stateless persons and preventing statelessness. States have been called upon to accede to the 1954 Convention as well as the 1961 Convention and to undertake other actions to reduce and prevent statelessness.123 In 1996, the General Assembly entrusted UNHCR with a global mandate on statelessness. UNHCR was requested to engage both in the protection of stateless persons and in actions to prevent and reduce statelessness.124 This represented a considerable expansion on its earlier mandate to undertake the functions foreseen under Article 11 of the 1961 Convention, first given in 1974 and then confirmed in subsequent resolutions.125 This global mandate has been reiterated and further developed in a number of General Assembly resolutions126 as well as in Conclusions of the UNHCR Executive Committee.127 5. Statelessness and low-lying island States With respect to low-lying island States, inasmuch as statelessness could arise but is not an immediate concern,128 the key objective should be the prevention of statelessness. on Human Rights, 22 May 2004, entered into force 15 March 2008. The Commonwealth of Independent States Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, 26 May 1995, entered into force 11 August 1998 and the European Convention on Nationality, E.T.S. No. 166, signed in Strasbourg, 6 November 1997, entered into force 1 March 2000, reiterate the right to a nationality. Many of the same international and regional instruments listed contain provisions relating to the prevention of statelessness. 119 There were 37 States Parties to the 1961 Convention at the time of writing. As noted earlier, its Final Act recommends that ‘persons who are stateless de facto should as far as possible be treated as stateless persons de jure to enable them to acquire an effective nationality’. 120 See note 25 above. See also the Council of Europe Convention on the Avoidance of Statelessness in relation to State Succession, note 109 above. 121 See UNGA Res. 49/169, 24 February 1995, UNGA Res. 50/152, 9 February 1996, UNGA Res. 59/34, 10 December 2004, UNGA Res. 61/137, 25 January 2007 and UNGA Res. 62/124, 24 January 2008. 122 See Human Rights Council Resolutions 7/10 of 27 March 2008 and 10/13 of 26 March 2009 on ‘Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality’. 123 UNGA Res. 61/137, 25 January 2007, UNGA Res. 62/124, 24 January 2008, and UNGA Res. 63/148, 27 January 2009. 124 UNGA Res. 50/152, 9 February 1996, paras.14-15. 125 UNGA Res. 3274 (XXIX), 10 December 1974, and UNGA Res. 31/36, 30 November 1976. 126 See UNGA Res. 59/34, 10 December 2004, UNGA Res. 61/137, 25 January 2007, UNGA Res. 62/124, 24 January 2008 and UNGA Res. 63/148 of 27 January 2009. 127 See EXCOM Conclusion No.106 (LVII) - 2006 on Identification, Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness and Protection of Stateless Persons; as well as other Conclusions of the Executive Committee, available online at: http://www.unhcr.org/41b4607c4.html (last accessed 25 January 2011). 128 There may be some cases of statelessness currently on some small island States. Amnesty International has reported potential statelessness cases in Tuvalu; see Amnesty International, ‘Tuvalu: Submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review: Third session of the UPR working group of the Human Rights Council, December 2008’, AI Index: ASA 47/001/2008, 21 July 2008, available online at: 17