World Conferences on Statelessness

KEY FACTS ABOUT THE WORLD CONFERENCES ON STATELESSNESS  

• The World Conferences on Statelessness are the largest global convenings for actors working in the field of statelessness and take place every few years. 

• The Conferences offer a unique forum for conversations that transcend geographic divides, connect people working in different fields and disciplines, and centre those directly impacted by the issue. 

• The Conferences act as catalysts for change. Multiple initiatives aimed at strengthening and transforming the field, such as the Global Movement Against Statelessness and the Global Statelessness Fund, were conceived from connections and conversations that happened during the World Conferences. 

• The Conferences integrate creative and artistic elements as a crucial component of their agendas, with the aim of provoking thought, empathy and inspiration among the participants and unlocking the potential of art as advocacy. 

What are the World Conferences on Statelessness? 

The World Conferences on Statelessness are a series of global convenings, organised by the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI) with civil society partners, that serve as a unique forum for conversations that transcend geographic divides, connect people working in different fields and disciplines, and centre those directly impacted by the issue. Held every few years since, these conferences bring together advocates, activists, academics, artists, community and social leaders, members of the donor community, UN and government representatives, to engage in interdisciplinary discussions to address pressing challenges related to statelessness and the right to nationality.  

In 2014, UNHCR and Tilburg University jointly convened a Global Forum on Statelessness, bringing together different stakeholders from around the world for the first time to explore solutions to statelessness and announcing the start of UNHCR’s IBelong Campaign to End Statelessness. Starting in 2019, the regular World Conferences on Statelessness aim to centre stateless people in a deeper global dialogue, creating the space for open and meaningful conversations that are led by and accountable to those with lived experience, that will ultimately inspire, inform and invigorate efforts to achieve meaningful change. The World Conferences serve not just to advance the statelessness field through knowledge exchange, community building and discourse; they are also a space for celebration of the field as it continues to grow and evolve. 

The World Conferences on Statelessness also integrate creative and artistic elements as a crucial component of their agendas, with the aim of provoking thought, empathy and inspiration among the participants and unlocking the potential of art as advocacy. Arts Programmes ran parallel to and within the main Conference Programme and were platformed through a standalone Arts catalogue. Music, theatre, and poetry performances were integrated into sessions, while live and immersive artistic projects ran throughout the Conference days, giving participants the opportunity to engage directly with both art and artists. 

2019 World Conference on Statelessness 

The first World Conference on Statelessness was convened by ISI in The Hague, in 2019. It brought together nearly 300 individuals working in the field of statelessness, as well as those affected by statelessness. The overarching theme for the conference was “Citizenship for Inclusive Societies” and the backbone of the programme was formed by a series of interdisciplinary panels focusing on ten “Grand Challenges”. Over the course of three days, 120 speakers from 60 countries shared their knowledge and experience on statelessness through panel discussions, roundtables and skills-building workshops. Approximately one in ten conference participants had lived experience of statelessness and the programme was designed to be as inclusive as possible of the views and expertise that they brought to the conversation, with around a third of all sessions including at least one impacted person as a presenter or facilitator. This was seen as a gamechanger to the dynamics in the statelessness field, with the conference concluding that: “All actors must prioritise listening to and learning from the lived experiences of those directly impacted by statelessness, including stateless children, in order to imagine and implement useful and sustainable actions to address statelessness and protect the rights of stateless persons”. During and on the margins of this conference, initial discussions also took place around the formation of a joined-up statelessness movement, laying the groundwork for the establishment of the Global Movement Against Statelessness. 

2024 World Conference on Statelessness 

In 2024, ISI collaborated with regional partner Nationality for All, and Malaysian national partners Development of Human Resources for Rural Areas (DHRRA) and Family Frontiers, to organise the second World Conference on Statelessness. Held at Taylor’s University in Kuala Lumpur, the event was the largest gathering to address statelessness to date: 450 participants joined the conference in person, from over 50 countries worldwide, and over 100 people who could not attend in person joined some sessions via our online livestream. Around 30% of the participants who responded to an anonymous voluntary survey at the opening session of the conference indicated that they had lived experience of statelessness.  

The Conference ran over three and a half days, with a programme that was consultatively developed to respond to the interests and needs of the field, focusing on the three themes of “Knowledge, Solidarity and Change”. The learnings, insights, aspirations and commitments expressed at the conference, came together to inform the idea of a shared agenda for change, that is rooted in the principles of collective action, solidarity and resilience. These and other key takeaways from the event can be found in the conference report. The Conference also celebrated the launch of the Global Movement Against Statelessness, which was conceived of following the 2019 Conference. Other initiatives launched at the 2024 Conference include the Statelessness and Dignified Citizenship Coalition – Asia Pacific and the Statelessness Asia Pacific Research Network, as well as the announcement of the Global Statelessness Fund. Knowledge resources launched include the StatelessHub platform, special journal issues, and edited collections.