Za Beda, 27, a stateless Rohingya woman from Myanmar’s Rakhine State. UNHCR continues to advocate for the fundamental human rights of the Rohingya people in Myanmar. © UNHCR/Reuben Lim Wende ACTION 1: Resolve major situations of statelessness DESIRED OUTCOME • • All major statelessness situations resolved. Law and policy reforms undertaken to ensure that stateless persons can acquire a nationality. Context Most stateless persons have never crossed borders and are living in their “own country”.24 Their predicament exists in situ, that is, in the country of their long-term residence, in many cases the country of their birth. For these individuals, statelessness is often the result of problems in the framing and implementation of nationality laws. Many of these situations are linked to non-inclusion of specific groups in the body of citizens at the time of independence, sometimes for discriminatory reasons. These situations have generally persisted for decades. A number of States have recognized the negative impact of these situations lingering on for decades and have taken steps to resolve such situations. They have shown that the key factor is political will but that relatively simple low-cost reforms can have an immediate and permanent impact. What needs to be done? The most cost-effective way of resolving these statelessness situations is through changes to legislation or government policy, including one-off measures to recognize as nationals those populations previously excluded. Rules for conferral of nationality can be changed so that all stateless persons resident within the 24 The phrase “own country” is taken from Article 12(4) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and used in line with its interpretation by the UN Human Rights Committee. 14 GLOBAL ACTION PLAN TO END STATELESSNESS 2.0