Note on UNHCR and Stateless Persons. Report to the Sub Committee of the Whole on International Protection. 2 June 1995.
I. INTRODUCTION
1. In 1994, the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme noted the persistent problems of stateless persons, and called upon UNHCR to “strengthen its efforts in this domain, including promoting accession to the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, training for UNHCR staff and government officials, and a systematic gathering of information on the dimension of the problem, and to keep the Executive Committee informed of these activities.” (A/AC.96/839, para.19 (ee))
2. From initial efforts in these areas, it is clear that certain steps necessarily precede others in assuring a systematic approach to the problem which appears, with variations, in different parts of the world. As a preliminary step, UNHCR seeks to clarify the foundation for its concern and involvement with stateless persons, and for those with no effective nationality.