Access to Education and Statelessness

As part of a global month of awareness on access to education and statelessness, under the coordination of ISI, OBMICA was pleased to participate in a virtual meeting of experts. Below we highlight some important points expressed in a dialogue between two of the key participants in the activity:

Why are we considered stateless and what can be done to grant us nationality?

UNHCR addresses statelessness and childhood statelessness through its #IBELONG campaign. There is a Global Action Plan composed of ten actions, including some specifically aimed at eradicating childhood statelessness, among them Action 2 to ensure that no child is born stateless, Action 3 addressing gender discrimination in nationality laws, and Action 4 to ensure birth registration in order to prevent statelessness.

Monika Sandvik - UNHCR

Can the Convention on the Rights of the Child help us break the cycle of poverty and exclusion?

Poverty is a major issue we work on. We do not always mention access to education or birth registration directly in our concluding recommendations, but the right to life can encompass all of these matters. We place strong emphasis on recommending action to States parties on these issues and on using clear language when we understand that there are violations or failures to comply. It is not within our power to force States parties to adhere to our recommendations, but we do like to identify those who are not adhering to them.

Faith Marshall - UN Committee on the Rights of the Child

What else can be done to ensure a better future for stateless children and guarantee their access to education?

We remind every State that, although they are sovereign States and can therefore determine who their citizens are, if they have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, then what they have agreed is that children residing within their territory are rights holders, including in relation to education and social services. Likewise, every child has the right to registration of their national identity.

Faith Marshall - UN Committee on the Rights of the Child

What concerns us is that even in States that have jus soli, access can sometimes be denied because of administrative details, for example by adding a note to the birth certificate saying "this child is the child of a stateless person." We are working hard to eliminate these types of violations. It is important to continue advocacy to send the message that States have agreed to birth registration regardless of status, and that children have the right to education and to other transformative assistance.

• To resolve statelessness, we must ensure that children are not born stateless, and that those who are identified receive a nationality solution.
• It must be emphasized that providing education services to children is not a favor that States do for them; rather, it is a benefit for States themselves. We need to emphasize to States that excluding children from education benefits them in no way.
• While we work on the long-term issue of eradicating statelessness, we also have to find practical small-scale solutions. Where children lack birth certificates, this means speaking with the Ministry of Education in the State concerned, and with school principals and local officials, to ensure that the issue of missing documentation is addressed.
• Finally, we must work at the global, regional, and national levels, which leads us to the Global Alliance. It is important to convene all actors, organizations led by stateless people, civil society organizations, faith-based organizations, governments, UN system agencies, academia, and the Committee on the Rights of the Child, because this is essential for addressing these issues and advocating for the protection of the rights of stateless persons. The Global Alliance seeks to bring all these actors together with States in order to advocate for and provide solutions to statelessness.

Monika Sandvik - UNHCR

Final note In her remarks, Faith Marshall referred to the recommendations issued in October 2023 to the Dominican Republic in the framework of its accountability report under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.