BUILDING STATELESSNESS-SENSITIVE ID SYSTEMS 12 Key Messages — Risks, Opportunities, and Actions Risks. Stateless people are frequently excluded from ID systems. The absence of a recognized identity then blocks access to essential services, legal rights, and formal economic participation, compounding marginalization across generations. If digital transformation proceeds without a statelessness-sensitive lens, new platforms and credentials may harden these barriers, widening existing inequalities and scaling exclusion through interoperable databases and automated eligibility checks that silently leave the most vulnerable behind. Opportunities. Well-designed, inclusive, and trusted ID systems can be gateways to empowerment, opening participation in education, health, finance, and civic life. The rapid build-out of DPI presents opportunities to embed “inclusion by design”—ensuring everyone is recognized and counted from the start. By extending legal and practical recognition to all residents, stronger ID ecosystems can bolster social cohesion, enhance service delivery, and reinforce Statelegitimacy through fairer, more transparent access to rights and opportunities. R E C O M M E N DAT I O N S AC T I O N I T E M S Build ID systems that are inclusive of stateless people and protect their rights • • • • Adopt a context-specific design approach. Tailor ID system design to the regional and national legal and political context, recognizing that visibility of “statelessness” may be protective in some countries and harmful in others. Design enrollment that works without proof of nationality. Advocate for universal access; residence-based enrollment where proof of identity is sufficient to register in national ID system; make nationality fields optional (“not collected/unknown”). This will require clear standard operating procedures to ensure officials do not impose any nationality requirement. The system should also be designed to enable future linkage with civil registration or nationality records. Promote alignment with international standards. Use World Bank-UNHCR dialogue and technical assistance to help governments close gaps with the 1954 and 1961 Statelessness Conventions, human rights treaties, and regional instruments. Pathways to nationality. Support the creation of safe pathways to nationality and refer people as appropriate to these where they exist.