UNHCR’s Global Action Plan to End Statelessness Taking Forward the Global Action Plan in MENA In MENA, progress has been notable in relation to several action areas that are of particular relevance to the needs, challenges and opportunities seen in the region. In line with Action 7 of the GAP, birth registration forms a central component of the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP), a framework for humanitarian programming which brings together over 200 agencies and protection actors to jointly serve Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt. Under this framework, UNHCR has coordinated multi-sectoral advocacy and programming to increase the number and percentage of Syrian refugee children registered at birth each year, while also strengthening national civil registration capacity. Consequently, the risk of statelessness among Syrian children is being substantially reduced across the region, while refugee children are also given a stronger foundation for protection against risks such as family separation, trafficking and illegal adoption. Beginning in 2004 and in line with Action 3 of the GAP, a growing number of States in MENA have reformed their laws to enhance the ability of women to confer nationality to their children at birth—a measure that offers children vital protection against statelessness. Reforms of this nature have been adopted in Egypt, Algeria, Iraq, Morocco, Tunisia, and Yemen.8 The United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia introduced measures to allow children to apply for nationality on the basis of maternal descent on a discretionary basis, in 2011 and 2014 respectively. Building on this momentum, UNHCR has continued to support regional discussions and the sharing of good practices in cooperation with the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights, an inter-agency initiative that promotes the adoption of gender equitable nationality laws worldwide.9 In 2016, UNHCR and the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights supported a regional event in Bahrain on the importance for continued reforms, especially in relation to preventing risks of statelessness arising from crisis and displacement. Following this discussion, Bahrain and Kuwait have taken under active consideration the proposals for legislative reform prepared by civil society groups in their respective countries. In June 2016, the UN Human Rights Council convened a special event on Realizing Women’s Nationality Rights which was co-sponsored by 15 UN Member States including Algeria and Turkey. The event, supported by the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights, drew attention to the important reforms undertaken in MENA, while stressing the urgent need for similar amendments in other States, particularly those affected by conflict and displacement. A Kurdish maktoum refugee shows his “shahadat taarif” in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KR-I), an informal document issued to certain stateless individuals in Syria. Photo: UNHCR / Amit Sen All States in the region have also incorporated into their domestic law dedicated safeguards against statelessness for “foundlings”—children of unknown parentage found in the territory of a State—a key protection that mirrors Article 2 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. To build on this progress, UNHCR and its legal aid partners offer technical support to States in the region on effective implementation of this key provision, including through the compilation of good practices in specific countries and regions. UNHCR’s approach to Action 9 of the GAP is therefore twofold, encompassing 8 After enacting these legislative reforms, these States also withdrew their reservations to Article 9 of the CEDAW. However, a number of other States in the region maintain reservations to this Article. 9 The Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights is co-chaired by UNHCR, Equality Now, Equal Rights Trust, the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, and the Women’s Refugee Commission. See http://equalnationalityrights.org/. 7