What are your expectations for the High-Level Segment on Statelessness that will take place on 7 October this year? engagement by the Bank in general in years to come as the data (including the total number of stateless persons and the nexus between statelessness and poverty) becomes clearer. I hope that the High-Level Segment on Statelessness will generate significant pledges and media attention that helps ensure that the momentum is kept and that addressing statelessness continues to be on the radar of the international community. In the first half of the Campaign we’ve had a number of achievements, including steady reductions in some parts of the world, important law reforms, and twenty accessions to the statelessness conventions. I hope the High-Level Segment on Statelessness will help us get to zero in terms of the number of States that have gender discrimination in their nationality laws, for example, and that we’re going to see strengthened partnerships and commitments by others in this area. It’s important to remember that the High-Level Segment on Statelessness is an opportunity for international organizations as well as for states to make pledges. The biggest challenge for the remainder of the Campaign is resolving protracted statelessness situations, such as in Myanmar. Here the issue isn’t technical support; political shifts are required. Our role is to keep these issues at the forefront of international attention. The adoption of the Global Compact on Refugees at the end of last year and the convening of the first Global Refugee Forum this year will change the refugee landscape and UNHCR’s way of working with governments and others in important ways. Will statelessness figure in the Global Refugee Forum and the work on the Compact going forward? I see statelessness as part and parcel of the Global Compact on Refugees. It’s there in paragraph 83 because of the connection to refugee flows, but the paragraph goes beyond that. Really when you read it everything that needs to happen is there. It is very positive that States wanted to have a dedicated heading on statelessness in the Global Compact on Refugees and that the Campaign is mentioned. Having this in the Global Compact on Refugees shows clear recognition of the issue. As the High-Level Segment on Statelessness will take place just before the first Global Refugee Forum, I see the High-Level Segment on Statelessness as a kind of launching pad for the Forum and the pledges to be made there, including because we’ve said that pledges made at the High-Level Segment on Statelessness will feed into the outcome document of the Global Refugee Forum in December. This will ensure that there will be follow-up to the HighLevel Segment on Statelessness pledges and that statelessness will continue to be on the agenda into the future. Where do you see the most potential for action for the remainder of the Campaign? Related to that, what are the main challenges that States are facing and how can UNHCR help them to overcome them? I see the most potential in bringing about legal reform because this is ultimately how future cases of statelessness can be prevented. States need to ensure that no child is born stateless by eliminating discrimination and introducing safeguards in nationality laws. Not very long ago, before the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in 1979, over half of the countries in the world had discrimination in their laws that made it difficult or impossible for women to confer nationality on their children. Now we are down to 25 such countries. Another area where I expect to see a lot of progress is data and analysis. The Secretary-General’s new Guidance Note on Statelessness calls on States to strengthen data collection, and we are supporting this actively with UNFPA and others. Statelessness is also part of the remit of the new UNHCR-World Bank Joint Data Center, and I expect we’ll see strengthened 4