(d) (e) Reviewing current approaches of Governments, local administrations and communities, national human rights institutions, NGOs and activists to the problem of statelessness; Identifying and evaluating practices of local, national, regional and international actors. With these objectives in mind, the meeting brought together more than 30 experts from the region, who participated in their personal capacity, to share their views on the subjectmatter of the consultation, review past work and develop a common approach. In addition to representatives from the two conveners the participants included representatives from other agencies of the UN system, lawyers working on nationality cases, experts from national human rights institutions or relevant parliamentary committees, key figures from national and international civil society initiatives relating to statelessness and academics with a proven record of relevant research and the ability to share their knowledge with operational actors. This diverse selection of experts facilitated the discussion of the role of different stakeholders according to their responsibilities and margin of action: local and national authorities, judiciary, social agencies, parliaments, NGOs and intergovernmental organizations including the UN system. A summary of proceedings can be found in Annex 2 and the recommendations and suggestions for future strategies are detailed below. An ongoing UNHCR and OHCHR commitment to statelessness The process in which the meeting is inscribed is understood to be a long term one, possibly lasting five to ten years. OHCHR and UNHCR agree that each organization will bring its own distinct mandate – promotion and protection of all human rights for the former and prevention and reduction of statelessness and protection of stateless persons for the latter – and its own working methods, network of contacts and advocacy methods to the process. Whenever the two organizations find points of convergence or overlaps in their mandate they could act jointly, in other cases coordination will be in order. As Radhouane Nouicer, Director of UNHCR Regional Bureau for the Middle East and North Africa, explained, “it is unfortunate, it is sad, that hundreds of thousands of people, human beings, our brothers and sisters, are born and die in the region without having enjoyed the pride of belonging to a state. They come and go unnoticed. A loud and sound wake-up call should be sent to governments and decision-makers. This will require tireless effort and close cooperation, but it must start now. As far as UNHCR is concerned, we will remain actively engaged and we will work more closely with other UN partners (OHCHR, UNICEF and others) and with civil society institutions in this regard.” For his part, Fateh Azzam, OHCHR Middle East Regional Representative, noted that “in a world based on state sovereignty and states’ obligations to protect, we cannot sit still while hundreds of thousands of people fall through the cracks. The right to a nationality should be enjoyed by all in implementation of the right to self-determination and to resolve long-standing historical and political conflicts. However, even as we wait for 5