One Year On: The Movement’s Journey Within the Global Alliance to End Statelessness
Proximity and privilege deeply shape whose voices are heard in the global struggle to end statelessness. For millions of stateless people, barriers such as geography, limited resources, and lack of access to documentation mean exclusion not only from their governments but also from the global humanitarian and advocacy spaces that claim to represent them. Meanwhile, those with passports and institutional power often move freely within international systems that remain inaccessible to the very people they aim to serve.
It is precisely this imbalance that the Global Movement Against Statelessness (GMAS) seeks to challenge through its involvement in the Global Alliance to End Statelessness. GMAS forms part of the Global Alliance Advisory Committee along two other stateless-led organizations as equal partners with States, regional organizations and UN agencies shaping strategies and driving change. The Alliance offers a rare meeting ground, one where states, international organizations, civil society, and stateless-led groups can work together on equal footing. But equality in intention does not automatically translate into equality in practice. GMAS joined the Alliance not merely to participate, but to reshape how participation itself is defined, to insist that stateless-led expertise, experience, and leadership are central to any effort that claims to end statelessness.
Over the past year, GMAS has used this platform to share knowledge, highlight power imbalances, and build genuine partnerships rooted in mutual respect. The Movement have engaged with Alliance partners in dialogue and action, sometimes celebratory, often critical about how the global response can move beyond token inclusion toward genuine co-creation.
Initiatives such as the Alliance’s Knowledge Webinar Series create meaningful opportunities for reflection and exchange, opening spaces for stateless-led voices to inform global thinking. These dialogues demonstrate the Alliance’s commitment to fostering a learning community that values diverse expertise. The past year as part of the Alliance has been essential in redefining what solidarity looks like, ensuring that stateless people are not only represented but are shaping the strategies, priorities, and accountability frameworks of the global effort to end statelessness. In this shared space, we have been able to connect, to share, and to begin rewriting what collaboration and justice truly look like.
Christy Chitengu
Co-Lead, Global Movement Against Statelessness
9 April 2026
Churches Have a Responsibility to Act Against Statelessness
Churches and faith-based organizations have a moral responsibility and an important role to play in preventing and reducing statelessness. Drawing on their moral voice, community presence, and long-standing commitment to social justice, churches are well placed to support practical actions that protect vulnerable people and help ensure every person has a nationality.
In Liberia, Church Aid, Inc., together with its partners, has demonstrated this potential in practice. Through community-based initiatives to support birth registration, more than 20,000 children were able to obtain birth certificates, reducing their risk of statelessness and exclusion.
For many churches, engagement on statelessness is grounded in scripture and faith. The Bible reminds us not to oppress the foreigner, because we ourselves know what it means to be vulnerable. It calls believers to show hospitality to strangers and to stand up for those who cannot defend themselves. When people are hurting, the church has a responsibility to bring relief. A Christianity that ignores injustice and suffering does not reflect the character or mission of Christ.
Stateless persons are no exception.
Read more5 December 2025
Latin American and Caribbean Civil Registration Week: An Initiative Ensuring Identity for All
The Latin American and Caribbean Council for Civil Registration, Identity, and Vital Statistics (CLARCIEV) is the organization behind the campaign “Latin American and Caribbean Civil Registration Week,” held from September 1 to 16, 2025, and which sought to safeguard the fundamental right to identity.
Under the slogan “Latin America and the Caribbean, a region without invisible people: identity for all!”, CLARCIEV intensified its efforts to register births, covering both children and adults who still lacked a birth certificate. As a result of the campaign a total of 32,177 birth registrations were performed.
Read more18 June 2025
Ensuring Vocational Inclusion for Stateless Individuals
Stateless individuals face daily obstacles in accessing basic services – whether opening a bank account, booking travel, or securing employment. One often overlooked but fundamental barrier is the absence of a “stateless” or “undefined” nationality option in digital forms and application systems. Without it, individuals are frequently forced to enter inaccurate information or abandon applications altogether. Employers, including legal and HR teams, are often unsure how to process applications from individuals without nationality, even when they have the legal right to work. This lack of clarity and inclusion in administrative systems contributes – often unintentionally – to vocational exclusion.
An encouraging step forward came in August 2024, when UNHCR became the first UN agency to update its recruitment platform to accommodate stateless applicants. This progress followed sustained engagement by the stateless-led organization Apatride Network, whose advocacy helped identify and address technical barriers in the application process, that previously prevented stateless people from applying. In collaboration with its legal and human resources teams, UNHCR resolved the dropdown menu issue and clarified internal procedures – creating a more inclusive and accessible path for stateless candidates.
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