Chapter 4 UNHCR’s Role UNHCR has been involved in statelessness issues and with stateless persons since it began operations in 1950. The organization is mandated by the United Nations to protect refugees and to help them find solutions to their plight. Many of the refugees the organization has assisted throughout the years have also been stateless. Indeed, over the past several decades, the link between the loss or denial of national protection and the loss or denial of nationality has been well established. It is also now generally understood that possession of an effective nationality and the ability to exercise the rights inherent in nationality help to prevent involuntary and coerced displacements of persons. How did UNHCR become involved with the issue of statelessness? Over the years, UNHCR’s role in helping to reduce the incidence of statelessness and in assisting stateless persons has expanded as the organization, itself, has grown. Its work in the field of statelessness is mandated by an international treaty, UN General Assembly resolutions, and through the recommendations of the organization’s own advisory body, the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme (ExCom). There is no provision for the creation of a supervisory body to ensure that the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons is properly implemented. However, Article 11 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness calls for the establishment “of a body to which a person claiming the benefit of this Convention may apply for the examination of his claim and for assistance in presenting it to the appropriate authority.” When the Convention entered into force in 1975, the UN General Assembly asked UNHCR to fulfill this role. The organization’s responsibilities were further elaborated in subsequent resolutions. In 1995, the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme adopted a comprehensive set of guidelines on the issue of statelessness: the Conclusion on the Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness and the Protection of Stateless Persons (Conclusion no 78). (ExCom is composed of representatives from countries – 66 countries are members as of January 2005 – selected by ECOSOC on the basis of their demonstrated interest in finding solutions to refugee problems.) ExCom’s 1995 Conclusion on statelessness “encourages UNHCR to continue its activities on behalf of stateless persons” and “requests UNHCR actively to promote accession to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness”. The ExCom Conclusion also asks UNHCR “actively to promote the prevention and reduction of statelessness through the dissemination of information, and the training of staff and government officials; and to enhance cooperation with other interested organizations”. In 1996, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution (A/RES/50/152) that similarly encourages the High Commissioner to continue activities on behalf of stateless persons and to promote accession to and implementation of the 1954 and 1961 Conventions. 43