Dear Reader, The Representation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Kyrgyzstan is pleased to present you with our second publication on the prevention and reduction of statelessness. It comes as part of a comprehensive national and regional process seeking to help Kyrgyzstan in managing citizenship problems in line with applicable international experiences, norms and models. In 2009, we published the results of field surveys undertaken by civil society partners in 18 districts of Batken, Chui, Jalalabad and Osh provinces upon government’s request and with strong support from local authorities (A Place to Call Home: The Situation of Stateless People in the Kyrgyz Republic, UNHCR, Bishkek, September 2009). These surveys identified some 13,000 stateless people, illustrated and analysed the causes and consequences of statelessness and even suggested possible solutions. In the summer of 2009, an inter-ministerial expert working group on citizenship and statelessness started to analyse the findings of these surveys and other information to derive at concrete recommendations on how to advance the prevention and reduction of statelessness in the Kyrgyz Republic. On 22 September 2009, the Administration of the President and UNHCR co-chaired a High-Level Steering Meeting, which as its Concluding Statement adopted a National Action Plan to Prevent and Reduce Statelessness in the Kyrgyz Republic. This ground-breaking National Action plan is at the heart of the present publication. Associate Professor of Law Chinara Musabekova presented an analysis to the Steering Committee, showing that accession to the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness would not require substantive changes to the legislation or practice of the Kyrgyz Republic. We are happy to herewith publish this expertise, as well as a comprehensive study on Statelessness in the Kyrgyz Republic commissioned by UNHCR’s Regional Project on the Development of a Strategy for the Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness in Central Asia. UNHCR’s regional process commenced with a Regional Conference on the Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness and the Protection of Stateless People, which we cohosted with the OSCE on 9-10 December 2009 in Ashgabad, Turkmenistan. Having shared best practices in the identification of stateless people, in solving citizenship problems and in preventing their occurrence, government officials, parliamentarians and civil society experts who participated in this conference also presented a set of recommendations on how to address remaining problems and gaps related to statelessness in the nations of Central Asia. In 2010, together with our partners, we conducted participatory assessments among stateless people in Kyrgyzstan regarding their problems and needs. The summary results of these assessments - herewith published - shed light on the often dire situation of stateless people and underline the urgent need to improve their situation. The data, collected through sex, age and diversity sensitive methodology, clearly illustrates a worrying gender and age dimension of citizenship problems in Kyrgyzstan. Particularly affecting the most vulnerable segments of society, lack of citizenship or documents to prove it further increases the vulnerability of these women, children, and men within their families, communities and the nation as a whole.