JULY – DECEMBER 2025 On 5 December 2025, the UN Country Team in Malaysia published its Research Paper Series on the Undocumented Population in Sabah, available online. The series seeks to enhance understanding of the situational context and background of undocumented persons, including their socio-economic conditions and the consequences arising from the absence of effective legal identity, which in turn gives rise to significant social and economic challenges. Between March and October 2025, a nationwide mapping of undocumented and stateless persons was conducted in Moldova by UNHCR and its implementing partner the Law Center of Advocates, in cooperation with the Council of Europe and the General Inspectorate for Migration. Covering 582 settlements (69% of all, except the breakaway Transnistrian region), the exercise identified 409 undocumented persons, 250 stateless persons and 53 applicants for stateless status. Through quantitative and qualitative research, a study on legal, administrative and social barriers preventing access to documentation, highlighting key obstacles such as limited resources, complex procedures and lack of legal and informational support. The findings will inform policy and practical measures to prevent and reduce statelessness. Action 11. Ensure that stateless persons can enjoy their rights On 28 November 2025, the Costa Rican Ministry of Foreign Affairs convened the fifth session of the Inter-Institutional Commission on Statelessness. Members reviewed and finalized the National Plan for the Attention of Stateless Persons and Individuals at Risk of Statelessness, aligning institutional commitments to support the effective integration of stateless people in the country. A key outcome was the Commission’s decision to create a Child Protection Technical Working Group, bringing together institutions responsible for ensuring access to nationality for children and adolescents under state protection, with UNHCR requested to support its coordination. The Commission also endorsed the development of a Training of Trainers module to strengthen institutional capacity to identify and refer individuals at risk of statelessness, an initiative for which UNHCR will provide technical support. UNHCR Algeria is advancing advocacy for legal identity and documentation: Building on Algeria’s commitment to develop a national asylum law and an Office for Refugees and Stateless Persons, UNHCR / DIPS Statelessness Section UNHCR will prepare technical inputs to ensure statelessness safeguards are embedded in future legislation. From July to December, UNHCR Morocco organized two workshops in Casablanca and Tangier, training 47 civil registry officers on refugee protection and statelessness prevention. On 26 November 2025, the Court of Appeal of Malaysia further affirmed that stateless persons may lawfully marry and register their marriages under Malaysian law, notwithstanding the absence of a national identity card. This landmark judgment clarified that the lack of an identity card does not preclude marriage registration, which is an issue with direct implications for children’s ability to acquire citizenship. Importantly, this marks the first time the courts in Malaysia have explicitly recognised the right of stateless persons to marry, thereby removing a significant legal barrier that has contributed to intergenerational statelessness, particularly for children born to unmarried stateless parents. In December 2025, in Ukraine, UNHCR for the first time provided winter cash assistance to stateless persons, persons of undetermined nationality, and people at risk of statelessness. This targeted assistance helped 546 most vulnerable families - already living in challenging conditions due to lack of any nationality and documentation - cover heating costs and keep their homes warm during the winter months. In July 2025, in North Macedonia, the Basic Civil Court in Skopje issued a landmark judgment on the rights of unregistered persons, particularly affecting Roma communities. In November 2025, the Appellate Court upheld the ruling, making it final and affirming the state’s responsibility for systemic failures in civil registration, which has led to systemic exclusion and discrimination against Roma and others listed in the “Special Civil Registry.” These individuals have been issued identification documents that deny them equal access to rights and services in North Macedonia. The case, brought by the European Roma Rights Center and UNHCR Legal Aid Partner, the Macedonian Young Lawyers Association, challenged the non-implementation of the Law on Unregistered Persons. The final ruling requires urgent institutional reforms to ensure universal access to civil registration and personal documentation. 8