. Identification re ention and reduction o state essness UNHCR’s consultations with stateless children and youth: the urgent need to end childhood statelessness In 2015, UNHCR spoke with more than 250 children and youth, and their parents and guardians, in seven countries around the world (Côte d‘Ivoire, the Dominican Republic, Georgia, Italy, Jordan, Malaysia, and Thailand) about their experiences of childhood statelessness. This is the first geographically diverse survey of the views of stateless children and youth. Many of the children and young people had never spoken to anyone about what it is like to be stateless. Education: UNHCR’s consultations with stateless children and youth found that they were confronted with a myriad challenges when it came to pursuing their education. In some cases, schools denied non-nationals entry to the classroom or demanded the far higher fees applicable to foreigners, putting education out of reach. In others, stateless children were refused admission to final exams or had their diplomas and graduation certificates withheld, halting their progress to higher education and better job prospects. Such children also frequently found themselves ineligible for scholarships or student loans. Whatever the obstacle, the outcome was the same: another young person unable to reach his or her potential. Health: Many young stateless people and their parents were forced to forgo professional treatment, even in cases of serious illness or injury. Travel restrictions, the prohibitively high medical costs imposed on foreigners, discrimination and lack of health education often conspired to impede access to health care for these young people. In some cases, lack of nationality documents meant that stateless mothers gave birth at home 74