Why the Global Alliance and why hope?
I represent the United Stateless. We are a national stateless-led organization, working to build a community of people affected by statelessness, and to also use our legal empowerment to permanently adjust statelessness in the United States.
The Global Alliance allows for a transformative vision to make statelessness a relic of the past so that everyone has equal access to a nationality. We can permanently address the issue of statelessness only by working together.
There is a strength in unity, and it is even more powerful when that unity is diverse. And by collaboratively taking on this issue with a uniform approach that allows for understanding of all perspectives, you can really address this issue.
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.
Karina Ambartsoumian-Clough
Executive Director, United Stateless
18 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.
Read more22 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.
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