The determination of statelessness 123 other states pledged in December 2011 to establish a statelessness-specific protection mechanism in the near future – or at least to consider this possibility.24 The forthcoming decade is therefore likely to bring an unprecedented shift towards statelessness-specific protection regimes in different parts of the world. Against this background, the need to better understand how protection systems function becomes all the more evident and this will be turned to next. 5.3. The building blocks of a statelessness protection mechanism After clarifying the conceptual framework of statelessness-specific protection, it is essential to determine its main building blocks. Practice shows that statelessness has some specific features that should play a crucial role in shaping related protection measures. First of all, statelessness is often a hidden characteristic, and the awareness about this issue, or the relevant protection obligations, appears to be rather weak globally. The lack of visibility and awareness can be particularly striking in countries with very small stateless populations. Secondly, statelessness is usually an enduring phenomenon (for example, once lost, nationality is often unlikely to be recovered within a short period of time); therefore stateless persons in relevant situations (described below) have long-term protection needs. Finally, statelessness usually renders those affected vulnerable in various ways, thus it requires the creation of a sensitive and protection-oriented framework. All nascent protection frameworks should address these specific challenges, for which concrete examples will be offered below. As stated earlier, due to the lack of practical experience and widely accepted, authoritative procedural norms, government officials or advocates will be in need of a certain level of creativity if they want to establish a national protection mechanism for stateless persons. However, creativity will fortunately not be their only tool. The following can all serve as sources of inspiration. A handful of countries already have specific identification and protection mechanisms for stateless persons in place (including Spain, France, Italy, Hungary, Latvia, Moldova, Georgia, the Philippines and Mexico). While none of these regimes can be presented as ideal, these countries’ experiences definitely serve as a source of reflection and guidance. 24 Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Costa Rica, Peru, the United States of America and Uruguay – UNHCR, ‘Pledges 2011 – Ministerial Intergovernmental Event on Refugees and Stateless Persons’, Geneva, Palais des Nations, 7–8 December 2011. 9781107032446c05_p116-143.indd 123 6/16/2014 3:12:01 PM