Kenya. Statelessness. Birth Registration. © UNHCR/Charity Nzomo the right to a nationality and providing mechanisms to prevent or reduce statelessness. Instruments such as the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the 2024 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Right to a Nationality and the Eradication of Statelessness in Africa, the American Convention on Human Rights and the European Convention on Nationality all strengthen protection of the right to nationality for all individuals. The Global Action Plan is based on the standards contained in these international and regional treaties.9 The key principle of international law underpinning the work on ending statelessness is the principle of non-discrimination and equality, which is part of international law and firmly embedded in many key international human rights treaties.10 In this respect international law prohibits any discrimination and guarantees all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any grounds such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity, race, religion or language is a recurrent cause of statelessness globally. Gender discrimination in nationality laws remains a significant form of discrimination, whereby women in some countries are still unable to pass their nationality to their children on an equal basis with men. More needs to be done to ensure that all minority groups enjoy the right to a nationality without discrimination and that gender discrimination is removed from nationality laws. The Sustainable Development Goals and addressing statelessness The vast majority of the world’s stateless persons live on the lowest rungs of society, in terms of socioeconomic opportunities, political participation and social inclusion. Therefore, the overarching aim of the 2030 Agenda11 “to reach the furthest behind first” and “leave no one behind”12 clearly applies to those who experience the many negative consequences of not being recognized as citizens of any country. There are also specific SDGs and related targets that contribute towards preventing and reducing statelessness. These are referenced below for each Action and notably include SDG 5, Target 5.1, which relates to the elimination of gender discrimination, and SDG 10, Target 10.3, which refers to ensuring equal opportunity and reducing inequality, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices. SDG 16, Target 16.9 calls upon States to provide legal identity for all, including birth registration. Given that nationality is a basic characteristic of legal identity, meeting Target 16.9 is also essential to efforts to prevent and to resolve statelessness. The UN Legal Identity Agenda is therefore a useful framework for the UN system at country level to work towards legal identity for all.13 9 The reference to the relevant international standards is listed under each Action, while Annex 2 provides a reference to the relevant regional standards. 10 See Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; Article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; Article 2(2) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; Article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child; Article 5 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; Articles 1 and 7 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. 11 Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda 12 “Leave no one behind” is the central, transformative promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals, see https://unsdg.un.org/2030-agenda/universal-values/leave-no-one-behind 13 See para. 61, United Nations Country Team Operational Guidelines Implementation of the United Nations Legal Identity Agenda, 2020,https://unstats.un.org/legal-identity-agenda/documents/UNCT-Guidelines.pdf GLOBAL ACTION PLAN TO END STATELESSNESS 2.0 9