Online Marketplace
The Online Marketplace is a structured (primarily) digital platform hosted on the Alliance website serving as a repository of collaborative project proposals from Alliance members working to advance the Alliance’s vision. It seeks to connect donors interested in supporting statelessness work with impactful initiatives, providing a convenient ‘one-stop shop’ where donors can quickly assess project snapshots for potential funding, thereby attracting additional support for this area of work.
It allows organizations to showcase brief snapshots without the burden of developing extensive proposals – a challenge for small grassroots civil society organizations and others with limited capacity.
Online Marketplace
The Online Marketplace is a structured (primarily) digital platform hosted on the Alliance website serving as a repository of collaborative project proposals from Alliance members working to advance the Alliance’s vision. It seeks to connect donors interested in supporting statelessness work with impactful initiatives, providing a convenient ‘one-stop shop’ where donors can quickly assess project snapshots for potential funding, thereby attracting additional support for this area of work.
It allows organizations to showcase brief snapshots without the burden of developing extensive proposals – a challenge for small grassroots civil society organizations and others with limited capacity.
The Online Marketplace supports the Global Alliance’s efforts to end statelessness by attracting funding and fostering collaboration.
Specifically, it aims to:
• Increase funding for statelessness-related initiatives by providing a central repository of project snapshots, making it easier for donors to identify and support impactful work.
• Streamline project matchmaking by reducing the burden on organizations with limited capacity to develop full proposals, especially without guaranteed funding, while enabling donors to efficiently assess multiple initiatives.
• Strengthen collaboration and pledge implementation by connecting Global Alliance members with external partners and linking projects to the Global Action Plan to End Statelessness 2.0 and relevant Global Refugee Forum (GRF) pledges.
Call for Submissions: Global Alliance Online Marketplace Snapshots
We are pleased to launch the first regular call for submissions of snapshots to the Online Marketplace.
Alliance members are invited to submit project snapshots showcasing collaborative proposals aligned with the Alliance’s vision.
Submissions can be made online using the digital form available at the bottom of this page or offline using the attached template (📩 Submit to: stalliance@unhcr.org).
📅 Deadline: 1 November 2025
For more information, please refer to the attached Call for Submissions and Online Marketplace Terms of Reference.
📎 Attachments:
Call for Submission Online Marketplace snapshots October 2025
Global Alliance Online Marketplace – Terms of Reference
Global Alliance to End Statelessness – Online marketplace project snapshot template
Brief project proposals (snapshots)
Projects seeking funding
Advancing Gender Equality in Nationality Laws
Funded
United States of America
Brief description:
Lead: Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights (GCENR)
Region/Country: International
Nationality laws in twenty-four countries deny women’s right to confer nationality on their children on an equal basis as men, with the highest concentration of these laws found in the Middle East, especially the Gulf region. Over 40 countries4 have at least one gender-discriminatory nationality laws provision, including denying women’s equal rights to confer nationality on a non-national spouse. Gender discrimination in nationality laws (GDNL) is leading cause of statelessness, causes other wide-ranging human rights violations, and inhibits the Sustainable Development Goals.
Concerted advocacy at the global and regional levels is required to complement national-level efforts and highlight the negative impacts of GDNL and what is required to change them in international/targeted-regional spaces in order to galvanize action by policymakers.
Advancing Legal Identity and Nationality Rights for Stateless and At-Risk Children in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Brief description:
Lead: West Africa Youth And Children’s Advocacy Network
Country/Region: Sierra Leone
In Sierra Leone, thousands of children, especially in remote border districts such as Kambia, Kailahun, and Pujehun, are born without official proof of identity or nationality. Many are children of cross-border families, orphans, or born outside of health facilities where registration services are limited.
The project seeks to ensure that every child in Sierra Leone, particularly in border and underserved communities, has a recognized legal identity and protection from statelessness. The 4 desired change is to transform communities where many children are “invisible before the law” into inclusive spaces where every child is counted, protected, and able to access basic rights such as education, healthcare, and social services.
Building Stateless Leadership and Representation in the Netherlands and Beyond
Netherlands (Kingdom of the)
Brief description:
Lead: ASKV
Region/Country: The Netherlands
Stateless people in the Netherlands continue to face legal limbo and limited rights, with many living for years in asylum centres under restrictive supervision. Public debate across Europe is shaped by misinformation, leaving the experiences of stateless people largely invisible and weakening political will to address the issue.
This project strengthens stateless-led leadership and advocacy through the Stateless Rights Collective (SRC), ensuring that lived-experience voices shape national, regional, and international efforts to improve protection and advance solutions to statelessness.
Closing the Protection Gap: Addressing Statelessness among Roma Refugees from Ukraine in Poland
Poland
Brief description:
Lead: Halina Nieć Legal Aid Center
Region/Country: Europe / Poland
Poland hosts nearly one million Ukrainian refugees, but stateless Roma remain largely excluded from EU temporary protection. Due to strict documentation requirements and Poland’s lack of a statelessness framework, many lack legal status and access to rights and services.
Poland’s temporary protection aids Ukrainian refugees but largely excludes stateless and undocumented Roma, who face legal uncertainty as TPD ends. The project will map this group, assess statelessness and barriers to rights, and produce recommendations to improve protection and legal recognition.
Collaborative Initiative to Promote Legal Identity, Nationality, and the Rights of Stateless Persons in Kenya
Kenya
Brief description:
Lead: Haki Centre Organization
Region/Country: Africa/Kenya
Kenya has made strides in addressing statelessness, registering groups like the Makonde, Shona, and Pemba, and reforming ID processes. Despite this, about 9,800 people remain stateless, mainly Rundi, Rwandan-origin, and Asian-descendant populations. Discriminatory ID practices, limited birth registration, and access barriers leave minorities at risk. Stateless people face restricted access to essential rights, including education, healthcare, employment, property, and mobility.
The coalition will work with Kenya’s government to prevent and resolve statelessness, ensure access to legal identity, and empower affected communities – such as Rundi, Rwandans, Pemba, Makonde, and other minorities-through advocacy, awareness, and documentation support. It will promote birth registration, legal reforms, community self-identification, and accurate data collection, contributing to SDGs 10 and 16.
Community Assessment and Data Collection to Identify Those Who Are Stateless or at Risk of Statelessness
Niger
Brief description:
Lead: Baze University Migration and Trafficked Persons Law Clinic
Region/Country: Nigeria
Many families in the Kuchigoro IDP Camp lack birth certificates and national identity documents, leaving children and adults at high risk of statelessness and without access to basic services such as education, healthcare, and employment.
The project aims to ensure that individuals at risk of statelessness obtain legal identity by facilitating birth registration and issuance of National Identification Numbers (NIN) in partnership with Nigerian authorities. By securing documentation, community members – especially children – gain protection from statelessness and improved access to essential services and opportunities.
Empowered Futures: Pro Bono Support for Stateless-Led Change
United States of America
Brief description:
Lead: PILnet
Country/Region: International
Around the world, millions of people are denied a nationality and, with it, the ability to access basic rights. Stateless people live in a condition of legal erasure. They are invisible before the law, excluded from state protection, and unable to claim even the most basic entitlements.
This 12-month pilot project aims to strengthen the capacity of civil society organisations (CSOs), predominantly stateless-led organisations (SLOs), to access legal assistance for the rights of stateless people.
Empowering Stateless Communities in Bahrain and Kuwait
Bahrain
Brief description:
Lead: Salam for Democracy and Human Rights
Country/Region: Bahrain and Kuweit
In Bahrain and Kuwait, individuals and families continue to face challenges related to nationality and legal identity, particularly due to gender discrimination in nationality laws, nationality revocation, and long-term statelessness among Bidun communities.
The project aims to strengthen the protection, visibility, and participation of stateless persons, those affected by discrimination in nationality laws in Bahrain and Kuwait, while contributing to national, regional, and global advocacy efforts toward the realization of the right to nationality.
Empowering Stateless Voices: Building Resilience and Leadership for Stateless Communities in the United States
United States of America
Brief description:
Lead: United Stateless
Country/Region: USA
Over 200,000 people in the United States are stateless or at risk of statelessness, living without nationality, identity documents, or legal recognition. Because U.S. immigration law contains no definition or protection framework for stateless persons, they face prolonged detention, family separation, and exclusion from employment, travel, health care, and civic participation.
The project will strengthen the capacity, visibility, and resilience of stateless leaders and communities in the United States. Led by United Stateless (USL) in partnership with the Center for Victims of Torture and the UNHCR, the project advances a model designed, led, and informed by a community of stateless individuals brought together by USL combines trauma-informed legal empowerment with mental-health support and systemic advocacy.
Enhancing International Accountability to End Statelessness in the Gulf Cooperation Council States
Bahrain
Brief description:
Lead: The International Centre for Supporting Rights and Freedoms
Country/Region: Saudi Arabia – UAE – Kuwait – Qatar – Bahrain – Sultanate of Oman
The project seeks to achieve a significant shift in international accountability and visibility regarding statelessness in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states. While thousands of individuals in the region remain without nationality, limited data, weak institutional monitoring, and low engagement with UN mechanisms have prevented meaningful reform. The desired change is to establish a sustained, evidence-based accountability framework that compels GCC states to comply with their international obligations under human rights treaties such as the ICCPR, CEDAW, and CRC.
Evidence to Equality: Evidence-Based Advocacy and Strategic Litigation for Equal Citizenship Rights in Nepal
Nepal
Brief description:
Lead: Citizenship Affected People’s Network (CAPN)
Region/ country: Nepal
The project aims to address the existing gap in evidence-based advocacy as well as legal action, addressing gender-discriminatory citizenship laws and statelessness in Nepal, which centers the leadership and lived experiences of affected individuals.
The project will address this critical gap by scaling CAPN’s individual legal and social companionship, while simultaneously engaging local governments to boost their awareness and responsiveness to gender-equal citizenship. To address this large disconnect between national laws and Nepal’s commitments under international human rights mechanisms (like CEDAW and UPR), compounded by deeply entrenched patriarchy and low public awareness, this project aims to drive community-led research and litigation.
Identity at Birth: A National Initiative to Prevent Statelessness
Lebanon
Brief description:
Lead: Ruwad Houkouk FR
Country/Region: Lebanon
The project seeks to address the systemic gaps in birth registration that place thousands of children in Lebanon at risk of statelessness. Despite births occurring in public hospitals, there is no standardized or systematic registration process in place. Hospital staff are often untrained and unaware of their role in informing mothers about the importance of registering newborns and the severe consequences of failing to do so.
The project will establish a community-based network connecting midwives, hospital staff, social workers, and families in high-risk areas. Through targeted training, these frontline actors will be empowered to raise awareness, guide parents, and ensure that births are registered accurately and within legal timeframes. This will reduce the risk of statelessness at birth in Lebanon by contributing to ensure that all children are registered and recognized with a legal identity.
Leadership & Community Advocacy Workshop on Human Rights and Statelessness Education
Bangladesh
Brief description:
Lead: Youth Congress Rohingya-YCR
Region/Country: Bangladesh
The project aims to address the lack of knowledge, skills, and opportunities among Rohingya youth to participate meaningfully in their communities. Many young people in the Rohingya community face challenges such as limited understanding of their rights, statelessness, and how to engage in leadership or advocacy. This prevents them from effectively representing themselves, contributing to decision-making, or accessing opportunities for education, personal development, and social inclusion.
Leverage the MENA Statelessness Legal Database to transform teaching and advocacy through evidence-based approaches, interactive learning, and targeted materials addressing the socio-legal realities of statelessness in the region
United States of America
Brief description:
Lead: The Mena Statelessness Network (Hawiati)
Region/Country: Middle East and North Africa
UNHCR funded a pilot project, implemented by Hawiati since August 2025, to create a MENA Legal Statelessness Database, addressing fragmented knowledge across the region and providing a comprehensive tool for advocacy, education, and legal reform for stateless people.
The project aims to transform the MENA Statelessness Legal Database into a regional platform that fosters dialogue, collaboration, and policy design. By engaging lawyers, academics, policymakers, and stateless-led organizations, it will turn data into dialogue through workshops and consultations, and research into reform by providing accessible teaching and advocacy materials. The goal is to shift responses to statelessness from fragmented, anecdotal efforts to coordinated, evidence-based action.
Lived Leadership: Strengthening Meaningful Participation and Leadership of Stateless Persons in the Asia Pacific
Malaysia
Brief description:
Lead: Statelessness and Dignified Citizenship Coalition Asia Pacific (SDCC-AP)
Country/Region: Asia Pacific
Across the Asia Pacific, persons with lived experience of statelessness remain excluded from decisions and institutions that shape their lives, despite their lived expertise. Where involved, their participation is often limited to tokenistic or unpaid roles. SDCC-AP is co-led by persons with lived experience of statelessness and currently all the seven out of eleven members of the decision-making bodies (the Steering Committee and the Impacted Persons Advisory Group) are compensated for their time. With the Committees’ terms ending in January 2026, SDCC-AP envisions transitioning to a majority-impacted Steering Committee, ensuring that persons with lived experience lead governance and strategic decisions. However, to ensure paid roles for the impacted persons in the Steering Committee, and to further strengthen their meaningful participation and leadership, SDCC-AP requires financial resources.
Mobilizing African Civil Society to Advance Ratification & Implementation of the AU Protocol on Nationality and Statelessness
Funded
South Africa
Brief description:
Lead; Lawyers for Human Rights
Region/Country: Africa
The African Union adopted the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Specific Aspects of the Right to a Nationality and the Eradication of Statelessness in Africa in February 2024. To date, progress toward its ratification remains limited. Statelessness continues to affect millions across the continent, particularly children, women, and displaced communities. Many CSOs lack the resources, technical tools, and coordinated platforms to meaningfully advocate for treaty ratification, legal reform, or access to documentation.
This project addresses that gap by building on the work of South African Network on Statelessness (SANN) to amplify regional coordination, build advocacy capacity, and generate political momentum for ratification. It also seeks to leverage strategic regional advocacy events to raise visibility and foster intergovernmental dialogue on the Protocol and its implementation.
Multi-stakeholder Engagement to Advance Advocacy in the MENA through the Global Action Plan and a Regional Legal Database
Funded
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Brief description:
Lead: The Mena Statelessness Network (Hawiati)
Region/Country: Middle East and North Africa
Statelessness remains a critical human rights issue in the MENA region. Though policy borrowing occurs across the region, efforts to regionalize civil society campaigns have faltered. The MENA region is further constrained by the absence of an inter-governmental actor whose institutions have a mandate to actively engage with civil society.
We seek to address two related aspects of this complex problem. First is the absence of comprehensive data and legal background, that could power advocacy to end statelessness and serve as a one-stop reference for national laws, jurisprudence, and administrative practices. The linkages among nationality laws, administrative regulations, and human rights, and the parallels that exist in these relationships across countries in the region have not surfaced. A second component is the development of Hawiati as a coordinator of multi-stakeholder engagement in the region.
Multistakeholder Mobilization to Achieve Gender-Equal Nationality Laws in the Asia Pacific
United States of America
Brief description:
Lead: Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights (GCENR)
Region/Country: Asia; Primary targets: Brunei, Kiribati, Malaysia, Nepal; Secondary targets: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Thailand (Good practice countries also engaged: Indonesia, Nauru, the Philippines)
Gender-discriminatory nationality laws are a major cause of statelessness and human rights violations in the Asia Pacific, where many countries still prevent women from passing their nationality to children or spouses. These laws limit access to education, healthcare, employment, and family unity, reinforcing inequality and creating risks such as gender-based violence and family separation. Despite some progress, stronger regional coordination and advocacy are urgently needed.
The project will boost momentum for reform by convening an Asia Pacific Multistakeholder Summit, establishing a regional task force, delivering capacity-building workshops, and creating a Myth-Busting Guide.
Restoring Belonging: Community-Led Action to End Documentation Exclusion in Kokrajhar District
India
Brief description:
Lead: Centre for Relief and Rehabilition, CRR
Region/Country: India
Families in Kokrajhar district face long-standing barriers in securing documentation and proving nationality due to displacement, data gaps in NRC records, and strict scrutiny that puts many at risk of being labeled D-Voters or sent to Foreigners’ Tribunals. This leads to loss of essential services, deep fear and stress, and limited ability – especially for women and youth – to engage confidently with state systems.
The project will help families regain access to identity documents and public entitlements by providing village-level legal support, training youth as Rights Facilitators, and empowering women’s groups to participate in official processes. These actions aim to reduce fear, strengthen community confidence, and build sustainable local leadership and advocacy networks.
Securing Financial Inclusion for Forcibly Displaced and Stateless People
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Brief description:
Lead: Apatride Network
Region/Country: European Union and the United Kingdom
Stateless and forcibly displaced people across the EU and UK face persistent and unjustified barriers to opening bank accounts and accessing basic financial services. Although safeguards such as the Payment Accounts Directive and JMLSG Guidance exist, many institutions still deny services due to low awareness, inconsistent implementation, and confusion around identification documents, leaving people unable to work, rent housing, or live independently.
Through advocacy, training, and collaboration with banks and civil society, the project seeks systemic change so that financial inclusion becomes standard, supporting equality, dignity, and full participation in society.
Strengthening Capacity of Frontline Actors to Identify and Address Statelessness in the Refugee/Migration Context
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Brief description:
Lead: European Network on Statelessness
Region/country: Europe
Significant gaps in knowledge and tools among refugee response actors mean statelessness is often not identified, leaving people unable to access asylum procedures, at risk of unlawful detention, or forced into dangerous journeys.
The project will strengthen frontline capacity to identify and address statelessness by rolling out the toolkit in additional countries and facilitating global learning through training, webinars, and a Regional Network Lab. It will also support advocacy at national and EU levels to improve legal frameworks and ensure statelessness is properly identified and recorded, ultimately improving protection and legal pathways for stateless refugees.
Strengthening Civil Registration and Ending Statelessness in South Sudan
Sudan
Brief description:
Lead: Hold the Child
Region/Country: Africa/Sudan
South Sudan’s conflict and weak services leave many at risk of statelessness, with only 10% holding Nationality Certificates. Despite policy commitments, implementation is weak, though UNHCR and partners have advanced pilot ID and birth registration initiatives.
The project unites government, UN, civil society, and rights holders to pilot birth registration and national ID processing, creating a model for scale-up. It strengthens multi-stakeholder dialogue, advocates legal reforms and African protocol ratification, harmonizes laws with international standards, and supports pilot services in Juba with equipment and staff training.
Strengthening community participation and leveraging change
Funded
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Brief description:
Lead : European Network on Statelessness
Region/Country: Europe / International
Over half a million people in Europe are denied their right to a nationality and other human rights. The causes of statelessness in Europe include State succession, gaps, conflicts or discrimination in nationality laws and State practices, as well as deliberate policies to deny or strip people of nationality. Statelessness affects both migrants and refugees, and people who have lived in the same place for generations. Thousands of children are born stateless in Europe each year because States do not have safeguards in their laws to ensure that every child acquires a nationality.
There is an urgent need to build on recent progress in encouraging more European states to introduce dedicated statelessness determination procedures (SDPs) as well as to reform nationality laws so that they contain full safeguards to prevent children being born stateless, as required by international law.
Strengthening EANN’s Regional Leadership for Statelessness Solutions
Funded
Kenya
Brief description:
Lead: Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)
Region/Country: Eastern Africa
In the Eastern Africa region, statelessness is caused by several factors including discrimination based on ethnicity or religion like in Kenya and Uganda, gender discrimination in nationality law like in Somalia, administrative and bureaucratic barriers, conflicts in nationality law, state succession like in South Sudan, lack of frameworks and structures for comprehensive and systematic documentation of nationals, limited knowledge among the stakeholders, among other factors.
In addition, there are hundreds of thousands who are citizens of different countries according to the law, but in practice cannot prove their nationality due to barriers in obtaining basic legal identification documents such as birth certificates, national identity cards and passports.
Strengthening Eastern Africa Nationality Network’s (EANN’s) Regional Leadership for Statelessness Solutions
Kenya
Brief description:
Lead: Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)
Region/Country: Africa/Kenya
Eastern Africa has over 103,000 stateless people, likely more. Causes include discrimination, legal gaps, and poor documentation. They face restricted rights and services. The UNHCR #iBelong Campaign has spurred progress, but more action is needed.
The project aims to end statelessness in Eastern Africa by strengthening EANN’s capacity to lead advocacy, coordinate stakeholders, and support civil society and stateless-led organizations. It focuses on collaboration, raising awareness, building skills, and promoting nationality rights across the region.
Strengthening Local Action to End Statelessness
Thailand
Brief description:
Lead: Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA)
Country: Thailand
Although Thailand has committed to reducing statelessness, many hill tribes, ethnic minorities, and refugee-descendant communities in remote border provinces remain without nationality due to implementation gaps, low awareness, documentation barriers, and limited legal support. The project tackles this by bringing mobile legal services to hard-to-reach areas and strengthening stateless-led community groups to better support nationality applications.
The project will improve access to nationality procedures through legal aid, paralegal training, awareness activities, and regular dialogue with local authorities. By building community capacity and using mobile legal clinics to reach remote areas, services will be brought closer to affected populations and expanded to underserved regions, contributing to a reduction in statelessness in Thailand.
Strengthening the implementation of the GRF Pledges on Statelessness in the Asia Pacific
Funded
Nepal
Brief description:
Lead: Statelessness and Dignified Citizenship Coalition Asia Pacific (SDCC-AP)
Region/Country: Asia
While civil society organizations (CSOs) in the Asia-Pacific region have demonstrated growing interest in addressing statelessness, efforts remain fragmented and often lack the institutional coordination and sustainability needed to drive systemic change. SDCC-AP, a key regional platform, is currently operating under the umbrella of another organization —Nationality For All (NFA), which places certain limits on its autonomy, visibility, and operational capacity.
This project seeks to address these foundational gaps by supporting SDCC-AP in two critical areas: (1) obtaining legal registration as an independent entity based in Bangkok, Thailand; and (2) convening an in-person meeting of the Steering Committee and IPAG to finalize the organization’s strategic and operational direction.
The Belonging Project: Expressions of Hope for a Home
Malaysia
Brief description:
Lead: Family Frontiers
Region/Country: Malaysia
Gender-unequal citizenship laws in Malaysia continue to leave many children in binational families without access to citizenship, contributing to statelessness and limiting the right to family life. Limited public awareness and few safe spaces for stateless people to share their lived realities reinforce marginalisation and hinder reform. This project responds by empowering young stateless individuals to tell their stories through creative, arts-based platforms that build visibility, empathy, and public understanding.
The campaign aims to shift narratives toward inclusion by equipping stateless participants with creative tools, producing community artworks, and engaging the public through exhibitions and digital storytelling. By expanding to East Malaysia and strengthening networks between communities, civil society, and local creatives, the project supports a more representative, community-driven movement to advance the rights and visibility of stateless people.
The Citizenship Project: Legal Support for Stateless People in Australia
Australia
Brief description:
Lead: Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness / Stateless Legal Clinic
Region/ Country: Australia
Australia has over 8,000 stateless people, including many children who could end the cycle of statelessness by acquiring citizenship. The Stateless Legal Clinic (SLC), the first of its kind in Australia, was created to provide free, expert legal assistance to stateless children and families nationwide.
The project aims to expand the SLC’s services to meet a rapidly growing need, especially after recent law changes that make many more stateless people eligible for Australian citizenship. By providing specialized legal support and preventing harmful mistakes in applications, the project will help stateless children and adults secure citizenship and end the cycle of statelessness.
There are no current results with the options you have selected.