More than 100 States, civil society organizations, stateless-led entities, academics and others have united to form a new Global Alliance to End Statelessness, committing to address the grave inequity faced by millions of people around the world denied a nationality.
The Global Alliance, which builds on the decade-long #IBelong campaign, was officially launched by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, during 75th session of the UNHCR Executive Committee, the UN Refugee Agency, in Geneva, which started Monday and continues this week.
“Over the last decade, we have made real progress around the world through the UNHCR #IBelong campaign, helping find solutions for communities and individuals that had been marginalized for generations,” said Grandi.
“But the work is not over. We must ensure that everyone – everywhere – has a nationality, is able to enjoy their rights and participate as full members of society, without discrimination”, he emphasized addressing more than 100 international government delegations and over 50 organizations.
The vision of the new Global Allance is simple: a world where no-one is deprived of their fundamental human right to a nationality.
Heeding the call to combat statelessness, an easily solvable issue contingent on political commitment, Turkmenistan announced during the meeting that it had officially resolved all known cases of statelessness on its territory.
The Permanent Representative of Turkmenistan to the UN Office in Geneva, Vepa Hadjiev, spoke at the first panel session. It was noted that thanks to the initiatives of the Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan and the President of Turkmenistan, on 24 September 2024, the campaign for the eradication of statelessness was completed in the country.
Speaking at the session, Chairman of the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan Amanmumkhammet Sazakov stressed that in total more than 32,000 people including refugees and stateless people were admitted to citizenship of Turkmenistan in recent years and more than 5,000 were granted a residence permit, which demonstrates Turkmenistan’s commitment to protecting human rights and fulfilling international obligations.
This achievement is attributed to a combination of strong political will, legislative reform, international cooperation and the modernization of civil identification and registration systems.
More commitments and progress are expected to be made, with the Global Alliance set to start work this month. It will be led by a 15-member Advisory Committee comprising States, UN agencies, civil society and international organizations, and stateless-led organizations. UNHCR will support the Global Alliance and host its Secretariat, in accordance with its mandate.
“Being a member of this Global Alliance will send a strong signal to the rest of the world. It represents a commitment. It will be a place to exchange best practice, advocate collectively and to push for resolutions on this issue,” said Grandi, inviting other states and entities to “join this historic effort”. ///nCa, 16 October 2024