III. Background and mandates As the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights makes clear, “everyone has the right to a nationality” (Article 15). Without nationality, individuals face an existence characterized by insecurity and marginalization. In 1954, the international community negotiated and adopted the UN Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons – the first global agreement to tackle this problem through a specific convention. It establishes the universal definition of a “stateless person” and provides a core set of principles for the treatment of stateless persons to ensure that they are not consigned to a life without dignity, rights or security. The UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness adopted in 1961 further develops the right to a nationality and provides a comprehensive set of standards to prevent and reduce statelessness. Both the 1954 Convention and the 1961 Convention have been complemented by developments in international human rights law (see Chapter IV). In the last decade, there has been a renewed impetus on the part of States to ensure that all persons enjoy the right to a nationality – for example, through improved access to civil registration and documentation – and to ensure that internationally codified human rights are applied to stateless persons while they are awaiting the acquisition of a nationality. Despite these efforts, the framework provided by both Conventions remains as relevant today as it was at the time they were adopted. Tackling the phenomenon of statelessness is an issue of keen interest to both the OSCE and UNHCR. This is not only because it is a serious human rights concern that affects hundreds of thousand people across the OSCE area, but because it is a potential cause of conflict, undermining social cohesion, national and even regional security. While both organizations have dealt with statelessness issues in the past and continue this work today, their mandates and scope are different. 21