Stateless Persons M EASURING STATELESSNESS IS COMPLICATED, as stateless persons often live in precarious situations on the margins of society. Frequently, stateless persons are not only undocumented but also ignored by the authorities and uncounted in national administrative registries and databases. Only a minority of countries have procedures in place for their identification, registration, and documentation. Most stateless persons go uncounted even in population censuses. However, the identification of stateless persons and clear understanding of statelessness situations are both essential for States. Such information both allows States to adequately respond to statelessness and enables UNHCR to fulfil its mandate to prevent and reduce statelessness and protect stateless individuals. Quantitative data and qualitative analysis are both needed in order to provide a comprehensive picture of a statelessness situation. These processes should include an assessment of the scale of the situation in terms of magnitude and geographical spread, a profile of the affected populations, analysis of the causes and impacts of statelessness, and an overview of the obstacles to potential solutions. This chapter examines the complexity of identifying and enumerating stateless persons, and is divided into two sections. The first section provides an overview of statistics available to UNHCR, including on some of the activities undertaken by the agency to improve its data. The second section provides a critical analysis of the state of statistics on stateless populations, authored by the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion. UNHCR / R. ARNOLD º ºPersons under UNHCR’s statelessness mandate UNHCR’s Executive Committee has called on the Office to undertake research ‘to promote an increased understanding of the nature and scope of the problem of statelessness’. It has also encouraged States that are in possession of statistics on stateless persons, or on individuals with undetermined nationality, to share them with UNHCR.35 The Office has issued updated guidance to its country offices on the reporting of statistics for populations under its statelessness mandate, reflecting efforts to clarify the definition of a stateless person under Article 1 of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons.36 In 2014, UNHCR launched the Campaign to End Statelessness in 10 Years. This strategy is set out in the agency’s Global Action Plan,37 which comprises 10 actions through which the goals of the campaign will be achieved. Successful implementation of the plan and achievement of the goals of the campaign will both require improved baseline population data. Indeed, two of the plan’s formal actions directly deal with the identification of stateless persons and the improvement of baseline data. One of these actions seeks to increase the number of States that identify stateless migrants through determination procedures that lead to a legal status permitting residence and guaranteeing the enjoyment of basic human rights and facilitated naturalization. A second action is the gathering of quantitative and qualitative data on stateless populations. Implementation of the Action 35 UNHCR (2006), Conclusion on Identification, Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness and Protection of Stateless Persons, 6 October 2006, No. 106 (LVII), available at: http:// www.refworld.org/docid/453497302.html . 36 UNHCR (2012), Guidelines on Statelessness No. 1: The definition of ‘Stateless Person’ in Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, 20 February 2012, HCR/GS/12/01, available at: http://www. refworld.org/docid/4f4371b82.html . 37 http://www.unhcr.org/statelesscampaign2014/GlobalAction-Plan-eng.pdf. UNHCR Statistical Yearbook 2013 39