SOLVING STATELESSNESS 1. Making effective use of UN human rights mechanisms to solve statelessness Melanie J. Khanna and Peggy Brett1 1. Introduction United Nations (UN) human rights mechanisms can play an important role in ending statelessness by raising awareness, spreading good practice and making specific recommendations to States on the changes needed to resolve statelessness. A number of human rights treaty bodies and the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process have already generated useful recommendations. Likewise, certain resolutions of the UN Human Rights Council have served to affirm and emphasise norms and standards that help prevent and reduce statelessness. This chapter reviews recent developments in this area and argues that, taken together, the human rights mechanisms of the UN offer one of the most promising avenues for addressing statelessness, as practice in this area is dynamic and opportunities for helpful developments are abundant given the number of mechanisms and the frequency and variety of UN human rights meetings. There is a natural link between efforts to address statelessness and the work of human rights bodies, as the right to nationality is enshrined in a number of human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),2 the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC),3 the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)4 and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 1 2 3 4 Melanie J. Khanna is Chief of the Statelessness Section within the Division of International Protection at UNHCR and Peggy Brett is a fellow with the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion. This chapter reflects the views of the authors and not necessarily those of UNHCR or of the United Nations. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 16 December 1966, entry into force 23 March 1976, 999 UNTS 171, Art. 24. Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989, entry into force 2 September 1990, 1577 UNTS 3, Art. 7. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 18 December 1979, entry into force 3 September 1981, 1249 UNTS 13, Art. 9. 13