The work of the CESF Consortium sharpened our understanding of the impacts of structural discrimination, with the COVID-19 crisis serving to surface long-standing and sometimes hidden challenges. It also shed light on how strategies of exclusion, often pursued for short-term populist political gain, deeply impact wider society, the rule of law and democracy. The research-based advocacy undertaken by CESF members contributed both to increased knowledge and deeper engagement with affected communities at a critical time, when otherwise this opportunity for learning and innovating solutions would have been lost. As noted by one of the CESF members in the evaluation: “By giving us the means to fund our research, we have uncovered systemic issues suffered by the [stateless community], which have greatly exacerbated the impact of COVID-19 there. We’re a small NGO that is dependent on whatever funding we can obtain. Our report would not have been possible without this funding.” Working Towards Inclusion COVID-19 confronted governments with the reality of the public health imperative to provide healthcare for all – even those who had been targeted and structurally excluded from healthcare for generations. If no one is safe until everyone is safe, laws, policies and practices that make communities unsafe are to be challenged – both for the detriment they cause to individuals, and to democracy, the rule of law and society at large. This is why the Together We Can Report drew a conclusion that “it is in everyone’s interest to include everyone”. This thinking permeated the work of the Consortium and will continue to shape advocacy to promote and protect the rights of the stateless. One of the lessons generated by the work of CESF members on the ground, across an array of contexts, is the role of trust as an integral component of meaningful inclusion. The structural exclusion of stateless people and related inequalities, discrimination and deprivation of access to basic rights and services, also contributes to a severe breakdown of trust between the community and the government (and vice versa). The same way structural discrimination must be addressed through law and policy reform, broken trust must be rebuilt through different strategies. Unless this is prioritised, law and policy reform will not necessarily result in meaningful inclusion. On the one hand then, government officials who maintain discriminatory views towards stateless communities, will continue to find ways to exclude them through their decision making. On the other hand, stateless communities will not feel confident in new laws and policies which notionally give them access to what they have been deprived of for generations (often through bureaucratic and state-sponsored violence). In Lebanon, for example, even after vaccine access was guaranteed by the Ministry, there was strong vaccine hesitance within the community, in part due to lack of trust in the authorities. In such contexts, community-based initiatives play a crucial role in reining in and reminding state officials of their legal obligations, while also working to build community confidence, raise awareness, accompany community members and support them to access the rights and services they are entitled to. ‘EQUAL PARTNERSHIP’, ‘CENTRING STATELESS PEOPLE’, ‘SOLIDARITY & TRUST’ : MORE THAN JUST WORDS “ We are really inspired by the work of each other. We should all congratulate ourselves. It has been an inspiration to be part of the CESF.” CESF Consortium Member The Consortium aimed to connect and elevate the work of all partners. The Fund did not merely support strong projects around the world; it facilitated true collaboration between all partners. This model, based on solidarity and peer-support, enabled us to collectively achieve greater inward facing impact (improving our expertise, organisations and activism) and outward facing impact (better serving our communities and pursuing structural change). The work of the CESF Consortium also proved critical to the continued effectiveness of civil society action on statelessness and the right to a nationality, in contexts where this was threatened by receding donor support or shrinking civic space. In a short time span and an exceedingly challenging environment, the Consortium delivered important lessons for the future. Stepping up support for locally designed and driven, but internationally connected initiatives that place the real needs and priorities of stateless people at the centre, will be key to Building Back Better. A Responsive Flexible Model Design The co-designed model developed through the CESF allowed for locally responsive programs to be developed within a broader framework of trust and practical support through peer learning and collaborative action. This combination of localised approaches within an overarching support structure achieved considerable impact. The model provided a space for the exploration of solutions designed by affected communities, that most align with real needs and increase chances of innovating approaches. ISI and partners learnt a great deal from designing, adapting and implementing the Consortium model. Several such lessons were highlighted in the Independent Evaluation Report of the CESF, which was published in October 2022. The evaluation found that participants’ (partners, committee members, and ISI) experience of the model and its impact was overwhelmingly positive. The funding was made available at a particularly difficult time, helping grassroots groups to survive and respond to the various ways in which the pandemic impacted their communities. In relation to the responsive and flexible approach adopted, the CESF Independent Evaluation Report noted: “ In the context of ISI establishing and implementing the CESF, during a crisis and without having previously played a role in grant giving, the committee’s advisory and accountability roles demonstrate the extent to which ISI was taking a 27