The Civil Rights Project Sisak, Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion and European Network on Statelessness Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council at the 36th Session of the Universal Periodic Review Croatia Introduction 1. The Civil Rights Project Sisak, Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI) and European Network on Statelessness make this joint submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), on the right to a nationality and human rights challenges pertaining to statelessness in Croatia. 2. This submission focuses on the protection of stateless persons in Croatia, and the prevention and reduction of statelessness, particularly among ethnic minorities, including Roma. 3. Civil Rights Project Sisak (CRP Sisak) is a Croatian non-governmental organisation established in 2003 in Sisak. The main objective of CRP Sisak is protection and promotion of human and civil rights, and the main activity is providing free legal aid to socially vulnerable populations. CRP Sisak has been working with statelessness issues in Croatia since 2017. In June 2019, CRP formed the working group - Coordination for Statelessness in Croatia - which consists of all relevant stakeholders in Croatia and aims to work jointly to address statelessness in the country.1 4. The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion2 is an independent non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting an integrated, human rights-based response to the injustice of statelessness and exclusion. Established in August 2014, it is the first and only global centre committed to promoting the human rights of stateless persons and ending statelessness. The Institute has made over 50 country specific UPR submissions on the human rights of stateless persons, and also compiled summaries of the key human rights challenges related to statelessness in all countries under review under the 23rd to the 35th UPR Sessions. 5. The European Network on Statelessness (ENS) 3 is a civil society alliance of NGOs, lawyers, academics, and other independent experts committed to addressing statelessness in Europe. Based in London, it currently has over 145 members in 41 European countries. ENS organises its work around three pillars – law and policy development, awareness-raising and capacity-building. ENS provides expert advice and support to a range of stakeholders, including governments. 1 For more information about CRP Sisak, see: http://www.crpsisak.hr/2019/07/24/koordinacija-zabezdrzavljanstvo-u-rh/?lang=en. 2 For more information about the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, see: www.institutesi.org. 3For more information about the European Network on Statelessness, see: www.statelessness.eu 1