Chapter 6 Figure 17 | Number of countries reporting statistics on stateless persons | 2004-2017 23 19 22 19 54 48 ‘05 ‘06 21 17 72 17 14 49 21 20 58 65 64 ‘10 ‘11 60 75 16 17 77 77 ‘14 ‘15 18 75 75 ‘16 ‘17 11 30 ‘04 ‘07 Countries with reliable data ‘08 ‘09 ‘13 Countries with known populations without reliable data identified as predominantly stateless – such as refugees from Myanmar in Bangladesh and IDPs in Rakhine State in Myanmar, almost all of whom are Rohingya – were included in both the stateless and displaced counts. 65 The changes that were made this year and the work taking place to improve reporting on stateless people are described in more detail in the Text Box on p. 53. UNHCR’s statistics on statelessness focus mainly on de jure stateless people: those not considered as nationals by any State under the operation of its law. However, data from some countries also include people of undetermined nationality. By the end of 2017, statistics on people falling under UNHCR’s statelessness mandate were available for 75 countries [Figure 17]. In addition, Annex Table 7 includes countries marked with an asterisk where UNHCR has information about the existence of stateless populations but where reliable figures were not available. These countries remain priorities for UNHCR in its efforts toward improved data on statelessness. The identification of stateless people is key to addressing difficulties they face and to enabling governments, UNHCR, and others to prevent and reduce statelessness. Action 10 of UNHCR’s Global Action Plan to End Statelessness (GAP) 66 and the guiding framework to achieve the goals of UNHCR’s 52 ‘12 #IBelong Campaign 67 focus on improving quantitative and qualitative data on statelessness. In addition, the establishment of statelessness determination procedures in accordance with Action 6 of the GAP will lead to new data in countries hosting stateless migrants. 68 Strengthening of civil registration and vital-statistics systems in accordance with Action 7 of the GAP also will contribute to the availability of quantitative data.69 In order to improve quantitative and qualitative data with regard to Action 10 of the Global Action Plan, UNHCR undertakes targeted surveys and studies (including participatory assessments with stateless individuals and groups) to establish the scale of a situation and profile of an affected population. During 2017, four such studies were completed in countries as diverse as Kazakhstan and Zambia. Another 30 countries and two regions are in the process of undertaking qualitative studies, several of them including a quantitative component. 65 This includes 932,200 refugees from Myanmar in Bangladesh and 125,575 IDPs in Rakhine State, Myanmar. 66 Global Action Plan to End Statelessness, 4 November 2014: http://www.refworld.org/docid/545b47d64.html. 67 For further information on UNHCR’s #IBelong Campaign, please see http://www.unhcr.org/ibelong/. 68 Good Practices Paper – Action 6: Establishing Statelessness Determination Procedures to Protect Stateless Persons, 11 July 2016: http://www.refworld.org/docid/57836cff4.html. 69 Good Practices Paper - Action 7: Ensuring birth registration for the prevention of statelessness, November 2017: http://www.refworld.org/docid/5a0ac8f94.html. unhcr > Global trends 2017