JULY – DECEMBER 2025
further explored the essential connection
between
legal
identity
and
nationality,
emphasizing that ending statelessness is a key
step toward achieving SDG 16.9. By centering
the perspectives of people with lived experience,
the Forum created space for stateless individuals
to share their journeys, the challenges they face,
and the solutions they propose. As a result,
statelessness gained high‑impact visibility during
this high‑level global event.
The Global Alliance to End Statelessness
continued to advance its three priority areas
through a series of Knowledge Webinars that
engaged more than 200 participants from
governments, regional organizations, UN
agencies, civil society, and stateless‑led groups.
These sessions brought together experts with
lived experience and institutional actors as
speakers and contributors. Building on these
workstreams, a Regional Network Lab, organized
by the European Network on Statelessness in
partnership with Statefree, Apatride Network, and
Family Frontiers, focused on promoting a
collaborative,
cross‑sector
approach
to
advancing the statelessness agenda, notably
through the presentation of new advocacy
guidelines. These events underscored the
importance of dialogue, knowledge‑sharing, and
co‑creation in shaping effective strategies to end
statelessness.
In July, UNHCR and the Organization for
Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE)
launched the report “Opening Doors for Children:
Prevention of Childhood Statelessness. Good
Practices in the OSCE Area” in Vienna in the
presence of OSCE Ambassadors. The report is a
joint publication between UNHCR, the OSCE
High Commissioner for National Minorities
(HCNM) and the OSCE Office for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). The aim
of the report is to encourage OSCE participating
States to adopt good practices to address and
prevent
childhood
statelessness,
ensure
universal birth registration and implement other
positive measures to protect stateless children. It
summarizes the international legal framework
relating to the prevention of childhood
statelessness and provides examples of good
UNHCR / DIPS Statelessness Section
practices from selected OSCE participating
States.
In October, UNHCR participated in the European
Migration
Network
(EMN)
Platform
on
Statelessness meeting on “Statelessness in the
EU Pact on Migration and Asylum: with focus on
statelessness and vulnerability” in Luxembourg.
The event emphasized the importance of taking
statelessness into account in the implementation
of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum and
highlighted the need for further guidance for
Member States. UNHCR presented its key
advocacy messages on statelessness and the EU
Pact.
In November, UNHCR participated in the 105th
Plenary Meeting of the European Committee on
Legal Co-Operation (CDCJ) in Strasbourg. The
meeting
discussed
the
draft
revised
Recommendation CM/REC(2009)13 on the
nationality of children and adopted the Council of
Europe’s Compendium of promising practices on
access to nationality for stateless children. The
Compendium was prepared by the CDCJ Limited
Working Group on Migration (CDCJ-MIG), in
which UNHCR participates as an expert.
The 14th World Conference of the
International Association of Refugee and
Migration Judges (IARMJ), held in November
2025 in Nairobi, brought together a diverse group
of global stakeholders to examine key protection
challenges.
Discussions
highlighted
the
intersection between statelessness and internal
displacement. Participants noted that this
intersection remains significantly underexplored
in both academic literature and policy
frameworks, despite the high global numbers of
IDPs. The Conference underscored the need to
reintegrate statelessness considerations into IDP
frameworks and to strengthen nationality laws
with safeguards against statelessness.
In February, UNHCR launched the Central Asia
Key Terms Guide in seven languages to support
journalists, students, NGOs, lawyers, and
partners in using accurate and consistent
terminology on statelessness and forced
displacement across the region.
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