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