Resources

The Resource List is a non-exhaustive compilation of useful references, organizations’ websites and projects dedicated to eradicating statelessness. Explore these resources to support and engage with initiatives working to end statelessness today.

Links

GLOBAL RESOURCES:

Global Citizenship Observatory | EUI

Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion Stateless Hub

Inter-Parliamentary Union and UNHCR Good practices in nationality laws for the prevention and reduction of statelessness | Inter-Parliamentary Union, 2018

Inter-Parliamentary Union and UNHCR Handbook for Parliamentarians No. 22 Nationality and Statelessness, 2014

OHCHR

Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung  Atlas of the Stateless, 2020

UNHCR’s global legal and country information database Statelessness

 

UN Statelessness Convention:

The 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons | UNHCR

The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness | UNHCR

 

Statelessness Policy and Doctrine

Global Action Plan to End Statelessness 2.0 | UNHCR, October 2024

Guidelines on Statelessness No. 5: Loss and Deprivation of Nationality under Articles 5-9 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness | UNHCR, May 2020

Guidelines on Statelessness No. 4: Ensuring Every Child’s Right to Acquire a Nationality through Articles 1-4 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness | UNHCR, December 2012

Guidelines on Statelessness No. 3: The Status of Stateless Persons at the National Level | UNHCR, July 2012

Guidelines on Statelessness No. 2: Procedures for Determining whether an Individual is a Stateless Person  | UNHCR, April 2012

Guidelines on Statelessness No. 1: The definition of “Stateless Person” in Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons  | UNHCR, February 2012

Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons | UNHCR, 2014

ICCPR International Covenant on Civil And Political Rights: Quick Reference Guide – Statelessness and Human Rights Treaties, UNHCR , October 2016

UNHCR and Minority Rights Group International, ICERD Quick Reference Guide: Statelessness and Human Rights Treaties, July 2017

UN Secretary-General: Key Messages on statelessness, November 2018

 

UNHCR Good Practices on Statelessness

Action 1: Resolving Existing Major Situations of Statelessness, February 2015

Action 2: Ensuring that no child is born stateless, March 2017

Action 3: Removing Gender Discrimination from Nationality Laws, March 2015

Action 6: Good Practices Paper – Action 6: Establishing Statelessness Determination Procedures to Protect Stateless Persons, July 2020

Action 7: Ensuring birth registration for the prevention of statelessness, November 2017

Action 9: Acceding to the UN Statelessness Conventions, April 2015

 

Reports and Publications

Spotlight on Statelessness January-June 2025 | Refworld

The #IBelong Campaign: A Decade of Action to End Statelessness, 2014-2024 | UNHCR, October 2024

 

THEMATIC AREAS:

Leaving No One Behind: Statelessness and the Sustainable Development Goals | Refworld, October 2025

Litigating the Right to a Nationality: A Guide for Practitioners | UNHCR, November 2024

Addressing Statelessness Through the Rule of Law | IDLO, 2022

 

Addressing discrimination in nationality laws and policies

Background Note on Gender Equality, Nationality Laws and Statelessness 2025 | UNHCR, March 2025

Equality Now The State We’re In: Ending Sexism in Nationality Laws – 2022 Edition

Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights

UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues Report on Statelessness & Minorities

UNHCR and Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights CEDAW Quick Reference Guide: Statelessness and Human Rights Treaties, April 2017

 

Ending childhood statelessness

CHIP Child Identity Protection

OSCE and UNHCR Opening Doors for Children: Prevention of Childhood Statelessness – Good Practices in the OSCE Area, 2025

UNICEF and CHIP Legal Atlas on Birth Registration, January 2026

UNHCR and UNICEF CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child: Quick Reference Guide – Statelessness and Human Rights Treaties, January 2017

 

Protecting the rights of stateless persons

Equal Rights Trust: Guidelines to Protect Stateless Persons from Arbitrary Detention (2012)

Stateless Persons in Detention: A tool for their identification and enhanced protection | UNHCR, June 2017

 

REGIONAL RESOURCES:

Africa

Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative

Declaration of International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) Member States on the Eradication of Statelessness, October 2017 (also available in Arabic, French, & Portuguese)

Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights Relating to the Specific Aspects of the Right to a Nationality and the Eradication of Statelessness in Africa, February 2024

The Southern African Nationality Rights Index

UNHCR & ECOWAS, Abidjan Declaration of Ministers of ECOWAS Member States on Eradication of Statelessness, February 2015 (also available in French & Portuguese)

 

Americas

Brazil Declaration and Plan of Action: A Framework for Cooperation and Regional Solidarity to Strengthen the International Protection of Refugees, Displaced and Stateless Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean,  December 2014 (also available in French, Spanish & Portuguese)

Cartagena+40: Chile Declaration and Plan of Action 2024-2034, December 2024

The Americas Network on Nationality and Statelessness Legal Framework

UNHCR & OAS & CLARCIEV Emergency Response by Civil Registry and Identification Offices during the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020

UNHCR & OAS & CLARCIEV Regional study on late birth registration, issuance of nationality documents and statelessness, 2020

 

Asia-Pacific

Ashgabat Declaration on Ending Statelessness in Central Asia, November 2024

Asian and Pacific Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Decade (2015 – 2024)

UN ESCAP Ministerial Declaration on a Decade of Action for Inclusive and Resilient Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Asia and the Pacific, July 2025

Joint Conclusions to Prevent Statelessness by Birth Registration of All Children Born in the Countries of Central Asia, June 2018

Nationality For All  Statelessness Encyclopedia Asia Pacific – SEAP

Statelessness and Dignified Citizenship Coalition Asia Pacific

UNHCR Joint Conclusions of the 2nd Regional Conference on the Right to Legal Identity and Prevention of Statelessness: Leaving No One Behind at Birth, September 2019

 

Europe

Council of Europe

European Network on Statelessness (ENS)

Feasibility Study on a Non-binding Legal Instrument on Stateless Children’s Access to Nationality – European Committee on Legal Co-operation, November 2024

Handbook on Statelessness in the OSCE Area: International Standards and Good Practices | OSCE, February 2017

 

MENA

Hawiati – MENA Statelessness Network

League of Arab States Arab Declaration on Belonging and Legal Identity, February 2018 (also available in Arabic)

Research and Advocacy Network on Statelessness in the MENA (RANS MENA) MENA Statelessness Platform