1 CHECK FOR INSTITUTIONAL BLIND-SPOTS We invite states, UN actors, humanitarian groups and other stakeholders to engage in careful introspection, check for institutional blind-spots, and review and reform policies and practices to ensure that stateless people are prioritised, their particular contexts and needs are understood and addressed and they are not excluded or left behind through: • • • • 2 strengthening awareness of the issue at all levels; acknowledging historical failures; collecting and sharing information on statelessness and nationality rights deprivations; and resourcing the enhancement of capacities, collaborations and funding. INCLUDE, CONSULT & ENGAGE IN DIALOGUE We invite activists and NGOs to make their expertise available and those in positions of power, to have open consultation and meaningful and constructive dialogue with affected communities, and commit to including stateless people on equal terms by: • • • • 3 consulting with activists and affected communities; building trust and strengthening solidarity with stateless communities; meeting the needs and priorities of affected communities and ensuring their meaningful participation; and facilitating wider discourse within society and institutions on equality, inclusion and the right to nationality. BUILD BACK BETTER We invite all actors to learn the hard lessons that the pandemic has taught us and invest in fu, ensuring a lasting commitment to breaking down the pervasive injustice, indignity, inequality, deprivation and exclusion that stateless people face, focusing on: • • • • • • STATELESSNESS DOES NOT ONLY EXIST IN HISTORY BUT IS ONGOING, IN REAL TIME AND IN PRACTICALLY EVERY CORNER OF THE WORLD. EVEN THOUGH STATELESSNESS INTERSECTS WITH EVERY OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION, IT REMAINS LARGELY UNKNOWN AND MISUNDERSTOOD. THE LARGE STATELESSNESS KNOWLEDGE GAP, EVEN AMONG PROMINENT DEVELOPMENT, MIGRATION, HUMANITARIAN AND HUMAN RIGHTS ACTORS, IS A CHALLENGE AND BURDEN FOR STATELESS PEOPLE LIKE ME, GLOBALLY. WE ARE NOT JUST A COLLECTION OF STORIES. WE ARE OUR OWN ADVOCATES AND EXPERTS THROUGH OUR LIVED EXPERIENCES. THIS REPORT RECOGNISES STATELESS PEOPLE AS LEADERS WHO MUST SHAPE THE VISION AND MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT THE PRIORITIES THAT DIRECTLY AFFECT OUR LIVES, OUR FAMILIES AND OUR COMMUNITIES. THE ROADMAP OFFERS A WAY FORWARD FOR OUR ALLIES TO CHECK THEIR STATELESSNESS BLIND-SPOTS, CENTRE US IN THEIR ACTIONS AND BE ACCOUNTABLE US WHEN DELIVERING THEIR MANDATES. WE CANNOT END STATELESSNESS BY OURSELVES. TOGETHER WE MUST WORK TO ENVISION A WORLD WHERE NOBODY IS DEPRIVED OF NATIONALITY BASED ON THEIR RACE, ETHNICITY, SEX, GENDER, OR RELIGION. A WORLD WHERE EVERYONE’S HUMAN RIGHT TO NATIONALITY IS PROTECTED AND UPHELD, AND WHERE STATELESSNESS IS TRULY RELEGATED TO THE HISTORY BOOKS. KARINA AMBARTSOUMIAN-CLOUGH, FOUNDING MEMBER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UNITED STATELESS implementing reforms to address discriminatory laws, policies and practices; redressing the intergenerational disadvantage and legacy of statelessness; being accountable to stateless communities and activists; monitoring the performance and progress of states; ensuring access to justice and reparations for stateless people; and sustainably investing in inclusive societies. CESF Consortium, 'Together we Can: The COVID-19 Impact on Stateless People & A Roadmap for Change,' (2021), available at: . For more information about the CESF Consortium, see: . ISI Monthly Bulletins and other key resources can be viewed here: https://www.institutesi.org/resources. 4 See further Chapter on Right to Nationality, Documentation and Legal Status, Chapter on Equality and Non-Discrimination, Chapter on Right to Health and Chapter on Socio-Economic Rights in Part 2 of 'Together We Can: The COVID-19 Impact on Stateless People and Roadmap for Change,' (2021), available at: . 5 Macedonian Young Lawyers Association, Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, European Network on Statelessness, European Roma Rights Centre and Minority Rights Group International, ‘Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council at the 32nd Session of the Universal Periodic Review: Macedonia’, (12 July 2018), available at: . 6 European Policy Institute – Skopje, ‘Challenges facing Roma during the crisis caused by COVID-19,’ (2020), available at: . 7 European Policy Institute – Skopje, ‘Challenges facing Roma during the crisis caused by COVID-19’, (2020), available at: . 8 Ibid. See also COVID-19 Health System Response Monitor, ‘North Macedonia’, (2021), available at: . 9 European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, ‘Transition Report 2020-21 The State Strikes Back Country Assessments: North Macedonia,’ (2020), available at: https://www.ebrd.com/news/publications/transition-report/transition-report-202021.html. 10 Government of the Republic of Macedonia, ‘Decision to Adopt a Coordination Headquarters during the COVID-19 Pandemic’, (2020), available at: . 11 Government of the Republic of North Macedonia, ‘Economic measures for dealing with the consequences of COVID-19’, (2020), available at: https://koronavirus.gov.mk/merki/ekonomski-merki. 12 Open Society Foundation Macedonia, ‘The foundation Open Society – Macedonia donates humanitarian aid packages to Roma families directly affected by the health crisis,’ Open Society Foundation Macedonia, (10 December 2020), available at: https://fosm.mk/en/current-project/the-foundation-open-society-macedonia-donates-humanitarian-aid-packages-to-roma-families-directly-affected-by-the-health-crisis/. 13 International Labour Organisation, ‘Impact of pandemic requires massive state intervention in North Macedonia: ILO and EBRD advise government on labour market after coronavirus’ ILONews, (28 May 2020), available at: https://www.ilo.org/ . 14 North Macedonia (Republic of)’s Constitution, (1991), with Amendments through 2011, available at: . 15 Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Macedonia, (1992), available at: . 16 Macedonian Young Lawyers Association, Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, European Network on Statelessness, European Roma Rights Centre and Minority Rights Group International, ‘Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council at the 32nd Session of the Universal Periodic Review: Macedonia’, (12 July 2018), available at: . 17 North Macedonia: Law on Foreigners, (2019), available at . 18 Macedonian Young Lawyers Association, Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, European Network on Statelessness, European Roma Rights Centre and Minority Rights Group International, ‘Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council at the 32nd Session of the Universal Periodic Review: Macedonia’, (12 July 2018), available at: . 19 CESF Consortium, 'Together we Can: The COVID-19 Impact on Stateless People & A Roadmap for Change,' (2021), available at: . 1 2 3 54