Welcome to the Global Alliance to End Statelessness
Statelessness affects millions worldwide, often stemming from deep-rooted discrimination. Yet, unlike many of humanity’s challenges, statelessness is solvable. The solutions are within our reach and benefit everyone.
As we approach the end of the #IBelong campaign, we stand at a pivotal moment in our collective efforts towards a world free from statelessness. Anticipating the launch of the Global Alliance to End Statelessness at the High-Level Event on statelessness during the UNHCR’s Executive Committee meeting in October 2024, our vision is ambitious yet achievable: a world where everyone has the right to a nationality without discrimination.
In my previous capacity as a UNHCR Regional Statelessness Officer for Central Asia, I was personally inspired by, and had the honour to contribute to Kyrgyzstan’s and other Central Asian states’ remarkable achievements in addressing statelessness. Kyrgyzstan’s historic resolution of all known stateless cases in 2019 and the significant statelessness reduction across Central Asia stand as testaments to the effectiveness of the multi-stakeholder approach and the power of collaborative action.
The Global Alliance embodies this ‘whole of society’ approach, recognizing that the involvement of diverse actors, including the stateless-led organizations and communities, is crucial. In the lead-up to our launch, we are focused on mobilizing all actors, including Member States, regional intergovernmental organization, civil society and stateless-led organizations, academic institutions, faith-based groups, and UN entities, to join the Global Alliance and collaboratively work to expedite permanent solutions and ensure the right of every individual to a nationality, free from discrimination.
The Solution Seeker Programme, a cornerstone activity of the Global Alliance, will be introduced at the Global Refugee Forum Parallel High-level event on statelessness on 15 December 2023, and we extend a warm welcome to all stakeholders committed to relegating statelessness to history and call on them to sign-up as members of the new Global Alliance to End Statelessness.
22 October 2024
Ensuring the Resources to End Statelessness Together
The financial resourcing of statelessness research is one of the most challenging aspects of our work. Funders have heard of many other human right issues but, due to the often-unseen nature of statelessness, it remains an outlier. As a result, it is difficult for donors who are hearing about the issue for the first time to believe that such a problem can exist in the 21st century, let alone get to the point that they are convinced that this is an area that is worthy of their funding support.
As members of the Global Alliance to End Statelessness, we are committed to collaborative, coordinated action. This means helping ensure that we have the financial and other resources needed to catalyse and accelerate positive change. We believe that statelessness is solvable through a well-resourced whole-of-society approach.
Read more8 October 2024
The Global Alliance: Stronger Together
Addressing statelessness effectively requires a multi-stakeholder approach. We must combine different expertise, ideas, resources, and experiences to tackle the diverse issues that underpin statelessness.
The Global Alliance centers stateless-led organizations and persons with lived experience of statelessness, which is commendable because it ensures accountability to and meaningful participation by those affected by statelessness. Acknowledging their lived experience and expertise in seeking durable solutions to the problem. Further, we think the Solution Seeker program is a game-changer, as it ensures that states commit to taking concrete measures to address statelessness within their territories and beyond.
We need to come together in this new Global Alliance to end statelessness. Together, we are stronger than the sum of our parts and our collective action is critical in accelerating effective solutions to wipe out statelessness.
Read more22 March 2024
Why the Global Alliance and why hope?
There is a strength in unity, and it is even more powerful when that unity is diverse.
The Global Alliance unites us under a vision for a statelessness free world. And it gives us the opportunity to collectively hold power to put towards a lasting impact and legacy for future generations. This is how we address statelessness from ever happening in this world, by working together.
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