What is the main problem the project is seeking to address? A key objective of the Global Alliance to End Statelessness is to better identify and protect stateless populations. Through our Stateless Journeys initiative, we have identified significant knowledge and resource gaps among refugee response actors resulting in statelessness not being identified, leading to major obstacles and The failure to identify statelessness can mean people face barriers to accessing asylum procedures because they cannot prove where they are from, they could be forced to take more dangerous journeys than other refugees, putting their lives at risk. Stateless people may be unlawfully detained for lengthy periods for identity checks or removal, even if they have nowhere to return to because they are not nationals of any country. To improve legal pathways to protection for stateless refugees, the capacity of frontline practitioners needs to be strengthened to accurately identify and record nationality or (indications of) statelessness and refer people to appropriate protection procedures. To address this gap, we have developed and piloted an innovative toolkit to identify and address statelessness aimed at local government officials, lawyers, NGOs, and affected communities. Drawing on the experience of an initial pilot in France, we have prepared a detailed template Guide with instructions on how to draft a national toolkit. The Guide provides information about the causes of statelessness and how to identify and address it, and other resources that can be adapted to each country context. So far, we have worked with our members at country level to develop national toolkits in Bulgaria, Czechia, Germany, Romania and Turkey but there is a critical need to roll out the toolkit in many more countries.

What is the main change the project seeks to achieve? This project will seek to strengthen the capacity of frontline actors including government authorities, NGOs, and lawyers in target countries and beyond to identify and address statelessness in the refugee and migration context, and exchange learning and tools for improved identification of statelessness globally. To achieve this, we will roll out our toolkit in five more European countries, while also exchanging learning and sharing tools globally through trans-regional capacity-building initiatives. To support this, we will advocate at regional level to improve legal and policy frameworks for the identification of statelessness and access to protection. This will include monitoring and influencing implementation of the EU Migration & Asylum Pact, which includes requirements to identify and record statelessness, including by contributing to the development of relevant EU Asylum Agency training and guidance. We will support our members to advocate for improved domestic legal and policy frameworks for the protection of stateless persons using our Statelessness Index and engage with regional institutions such as the EU and Council of Europe. We will work with project partners to gather feedback and learning from the toolkits and deliver capacity building and knowledge exchange initiatives with global and trans-regional reach. Under the auspices of the Global Alliance we will organise a Regional Network Lab, working in partnership with sister networks in different regions around the world to facilitate information-sharing and exchange through webinars and training. We will leverage the Global Compact on Refugees to promote the toolkits as an innovation and good practice, thereby reaching a wide range of key stakeholders.

Who are the key partners? ENS is a civil society alliance with over 180 NGO and individual members in 41 countries. We connect stateless people, their communities, and experts from across Europe with a shared dedication to breaking the cycle of statelessness and realizing everyone’s right to a nationality. We aim to achieve this by enabling collective action in three areas: law and policy development, awareness-raising, and capacity-building. We will consult our membership to identify organisations who wish to partner on project activities and who work in countries where there is greatest scope for engagement and impact. Potential ENS and Global Alliance members who might partner on this project include ASKV from the Netherlands, Aditus Foundation in Malta, HLNAC in Poland, LCA in Moldova, Mission Armenia, Nansen in Belgium, PIC in Slovenia, Right to Protection in Ukraine and/or our members yet to join the Global Alliance (e.g. in Italy, Spain, or Georgia). For our planned Regional Network Lab we would consult and seek to collaborate with sister networks in different regions, including Hawiati – the MENA Statelessness Network, Red ANA - the Americas Network on Nationality and Statelessness, Nationality for All, SDCC-AP - the Statelessness and Dignified Citizenship Coalition - Asia Pacific, the Central Asian Network on Statelessness and the Southern African Nationality Network. In order to shape and inform inclusive project implementation we would establish an Advisory Board comprised of individuals with lived experience of statelessness or representatives of affected communities, alongside feedback mechanisms to gather the views of stateless communities in countries where the toolkits are being implemented.

Who is the target population for this project? PrimaryThe ultimate target population of this project are stateless refugees and migrants (and those with undetermined nationality) in Europe and globally. The direct and immediate target population of the project are frontline refugee and migrant response actors including asylum screening officers, caseworkers, border guards, lawyers, national and regional policymakers, international organisations, NGOs, reception center staff, detention officers, volunteers, and community representatives working in target countries and who engage with global and trans-regional activities. The target population of concern are stateless people and persons with undetermined nationality in a migratory context. This includes refugees originating from countries including Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Myanmar, Palestine, Russia, Syria, Ukraine, and others where there is a risk of statelessness due to gaps or conflicts in nationality laws and/or discrimination, displacement, or significant stateless populations.

Funding and costs What is the total cost of this project?100,000 USD