legal advice to assist individual stateless persons in accessing relevant procedures for acquisition of citizenship, documentation procedures or, in the absence of solutions, a determination procedure that is linked to a secure status (statelessness status determination procedures are discussed in greater detail below in section IV.d)(16). A survey is particularly suited to situations in which the target population is relatively concentrated and located in a geographically limited area. b. Prevention – addressing causes of statelessness 25. In contrast to UNHCR’s international refugee protection mandate, a principal focus of the statelessness mandate is to prevent statelessness from occurring in the first place. This avoids considerable hardship for individuals, generally at small cost. Prevention of statelessness means addressing possible causes of future statelessness. It is reflected in UNHCR’s Global Strategic Priority 1.3. It entails analyzing and addressing such issues as gaps in nationality legislation, State succession, arbitrary deprivation of nationality (e.g. on discriminatory grounds), administrative obstacles, birth registration, issuance of identity documentation and determination of nationality status. It needs to be kept in mind that although the apparent causes of statelessness are often legal and technical, discrimination on racial, ethnic, religious, linguistic and other grounds is frequently a key factor. The document Statelessness: An Analytical Framework can be used to identify the full range of causes of statelessness. Accession to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness can address many of these issues. Gaps in nationality legislation 26. Where causes of statelessness relate to constitutional provisions or nationality legislation, UNHCR Field Offices may consider proactively providing advice on international standards and how they may be (17) implemented at the national level. For this purpose, Field Offices may invoke the 1961 Convention and its obligations with State parties. In States which are not parties, the 1961 Convention can be used as a yardstick to identify gaps in nationality legislation and to advise governments on measures to prevent and reduce statelessness. The Analytical Framework (18) can be used to identify specific gaps. In the specific case that a national constitution is being adopted or amended, Field Offices and other UN agencies may draw on the 2009 Guidance Note of the Secretary-General: (19) United Nations Assistance to Constitution-making Processes. PREVENTION Addressing causes (legal and practical) of future statelessness so that it does not occur ) Targeted advocacy and technical advice to close gaps in nationality legislation, in particular through use of the 1961 Convention, regional treaties, human rights law and international customary law ; Tool: Statelessness: An Analytical Framework ) Advocacy and advice on administrative obstacles ) Potential State succession: seek advice 27. There are a number of safeguards to prevent statelessness but the most from Headquarters important is that children born on the territory of a State should acquire the ) Birth registration and documentation nationality of that State where they would otherwise be stateless. This safeguard is the cornerstone of efforts to reduce statelessness over time. It is ) Promote accession to 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness not only relevant where the parents are stateless but in any situation in which ; Tool: 1961 Convention Brochure the child would otherwise be stateless, including where one or both parents possess nationality but face restrictions on conferring it on their children. This safeguard is not only required by the 1961 Convention but also, albeit with slightly different formulations, by the African (20) (21) Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the American Convention of Human Rights and the European 16 Statelessness status determination procedures are discussed in greater detail below in section IV.d. Executive Committee Conclusion No. 106 (LVII) – 2006, paras. (i) and ( j). 18 See also above at para. 18. 19 UN Secretary General (UNSG), Guidance Note of the Secretary-General: United Nations Assistance to Constitution-making Processes, April 2009, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4b8648b52.html. 20 As of 1 January 2010, 45 States are party to the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. Its article 6, paragraphs 3 and 4 read as follows: “3. Every child has the right to acquire a nationality. 17 9