Chapter 6 Statistics and information on the situation of stateless populations can also be gathered through population censuses. When the GAP was published in 2014, 112 out of 142 national population censuses undertaken since 2005 for which the United Nations possessed questionnaires included a question on nationality. Of these, fewer than 25 per cent included a pre-coded option for census takers to record the responses of those who identified themselves as stateless. It is therefore important to include questions relating to nationality in the 2020 round of population and housing censuses. The Conference of European Statisticians Recommendations for the 2020 Censuses of Population and Housing70 is a first step in this regard, but further efforts are needed. UNHCR operations are collaborating with statisticians and relevant authorities to include questions in upcoming censuses that will assist in identifying the number of stateless people. UNHCR encourages all States to follow these examples. In 2017, progress continued to be made to reduce the number of stateless people through acquisition or confirmation of nationality. A reported 56,500 stateless people in 29 countries acquired nationality during the year, with significant reductions occurring in the Philippines, the Russian Federation, Sweden, Tajikistan, and Thailand, among other places. In Tajikistan, for example, close to 12,000 people had their nationality confirmed in 2017, as did 11,000 in Thailand. ■ 70 See: https://www.unece.org/publications/2020recomm.html. Reporting on stateless Rohingya refugees and IDPs UNHCR’s statistical reporting follows a methodology whereby persons of concern are reported and counted as stateless only if they do not have another reportable status (e.g. as refugees, IDPs, asylum-seekers). This methodology avoids double counting the total number of people of concern to UNHCR in any given country as well as globally. UNHCR is currently reviewing its statistical reporting for stateless populations. While that review continues and takes into account challenges, including substantial gaps in current knowledge about the extent of statelessness among members of some displaced groups, UNHCR has decided that this Global Trends report will include the Rohingya refugee population in Bangladesh and the IDPs in Rakhine state as stateless people. Accordingly, in Annex Table 1, such persons are reported under two separate columns, one relating to refugees or IDPs and one relating to people of concern under UNHCR’s statelessness mandate. (They are only counted once for purposes of the total number of people of concern in Bangladesh, in Myanmar, and globally.) This is being done exceptionally in light of the size of this population and that they are in fact stateless as well as displaced. To do otherwise unhcr > Global trends 2017 would have resulted in UNHCR’s reported stateless population dropping dramatically even though no solutions have been found for this group. At present, this approach is inconsistent with the methodology applied for other displaced stateless populations. Notably, Action 10 of the Global Action Plan to End Statelessness calls on the international community to take action to improve quantitative and qualitative data on statelessness. Consistent with this, UNHCR is strengthening its partnerships with States, UN DESA, UNFPA, the World Bank, and others to tackle the challenges head on. A redoubled effort now underway will eventually provide States with guidance on definitional and methodological issues to support the capacitation of national statistical systems with respect to statelessness. It is hoped that these efforts will better position the international community to address the considerable challenges associated with achieving reliable data on statelessness, some of which were identified in ‘Counting the World’s Stateless: Reflections on Statistical Reporting on Statelessness’.71 ■ 71 See: http://www.unhcr.org/54cf99f29.html. 53