10 Actions to End Statelessness
naturalization can also be simplified to make it
easier for stateless people to acquire nationality,
for instance, by reducing the required number of
years of residence or by lowering or eliminating
application fees.
WHAT EXISTING CIRCUMSTANCES CAN
FACILITATE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS
ACTION?
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HOW CAN UNHCR HELP?
Major activities:
1. Advocate and provide technical advice for
reform of nationality laws, policies and
procedures to permit acquisition of nationality
by stateless people.
2. Deliver operational support to governments,
parliaments, civil society and stateless
populations, including through projects to
bolster capacity of States and civil society. This
includes:
•
•
•
•
Provision of information, legal aid,
documentation and support for nationality
campaigns to assist stateless individuals
with nationality applications and for
acquisition of documentation confirming
nationality;
•
Pledges made by particular States in the
context of UNHCR’s 2011 Ministerial Meeting,
commitments made in the context of the
Universal Periodic Review of the Human Rights
Council and recommendations made to
particular States by UN human rights treaty
bodies and special procedures.
Increasing recognition by States of the
negative impacts of large-scale situations of
statelessness and of the benefits of resolving
such situations, including in terms of improving
social cohesion and other development
outcomes.
WHAT ARE THE OBSTACLES TO
IMPLEMENTING THIS ACTION?
•
•
Reforms of nationality laws and policies are
sometimes difficult to achieve in practice.
Prevailing political and social views and
practices regarding stateless populations may
be difficult to change.
Support to governments for processing of
applications or issuance of documentation;
Support for deployment of mobile teams to
ensure that all sectors of the population
have access to procedures;
Where statelessness is due to
discriminatory social attitudes, building
support for long-term solutions through
dialogue, reconciliation and confidencebuilding.
U N H C R > G LO B A L AC T I O N P L A N TO E N D S TAT E L E S S N E S S : 2 0 1 4 – 2 0 2 4
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