DESK REVIEW ON POPULATIONS AT RISK OF STATELESSNESS Department Circular No. 58 Establishing the Refugee and Stateless Status Determination Procedure (established under the authority granted to the Secretary of Justice by Title III, Section 7 of the 1987 Administrative Code) Section 5: Creates the Refugees and Stateless Status Persons Protection Unit (RSPPU) in the Department of Justice responsible for the identification, determination, and protection of refugees and stateless persons under the terms of the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, and the 1954 Statelessness Convention. Section 2: “Establishes a fair, speedy and non-adversarial procedure to facilitate identification, treatment, and protection of refugees and stateless persons” A.6. National Plans, Policies, and Institutional Mechanisms Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 Chapters 11 and 21 of the Philippine Development Plan, respectively entitled, “Reducing Vulnerability of Individuals and Families,” and “Protecting the rights, promoting the welfare, and expanding opportunities for Overseas Filipinos,” include the following provisions: “Provide persons of concern (POC) with access to protective services. Engagements and partnerships of concerned agencies such as the DOJ and DSWD will continue to provide POC with access to protective services. A database management system for the POC will be developed to efficiently assess and monitor their concerns.” (Chapter 11, page 198) “The legal framework for the protection of asylum seekers, refugees, and stateless persons, including children, will be developed, including institutionalization of their access to social services.” (Chapter 21, page 341) National Action Plan to End Statelessness by 2024 A National Action Plan to End Statelessness by 2024 (NAP) was developed in 2015 and formally launched in 2017. It is aligned with UNHCR’s “IBelong Campaign to End Statelessness” and the Global Action Plan to End Statelessness. There are seven Action Points that cover the following objectives: 1. Resolve existing cases of statelessness 2. Ensure no child is born stateless 3. Remove gender discrimination from nationality laws 4. Grant protection status and facilitate the naturalization of refugees and stateless persons 5. Ensure birth registration for the prevention of statelessness 6. Accede to the UN Statelessness Conventions 7. Improve Quantitative and Qualitative Data on Stateless Populations Inter-Agency Agreement on Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Stateless Persons UNHCR / April 2021 33