International Institute for Humanitarian Law: Course on Statelessness – 4-7 April, Italy

The International Institute for Humanitarian Law, in cooperation with the United High Commissioner for Refugees, will organise a 2^nd Course on Statelessness, which will take place in Sanremo, Italy, 4-7 April 2017.

Statelessness, or the absence of a nationality, is a problem affecting at least 10 million people globally. There is no region on the planet that does not have significant numbers of stateless persons. In addition to the indignity of being without a nationality, stateless persons are often denied basic rights, such as access to education and health care. Their exclusion from citizenship marks their lives, and those of their families and communities, in dramatic ways. Yet while statelessness is a serious problem, it is one that can be resolved with relatively simple changes in national law and practice.

The course is designed for government officials and NGOs dealing with stateless people or looking into addressing statelessness in their country. The course lasts four days and is conducted in English. This course responds to the increasing demand for information on statelessness and ways to prevent and reduce statelessness. It includes presentations, case studies, simulations and practical exercises led by experts. The overall objectives of the course are to:

• Increase the participants’ ability to deal with the phenomenon of statelessness
• Encourage the sharing of good practices among participants on how to reduce and prevent statelessness and protect stateless persons.
• Promote the use and the implementation of UNHCR’s Global Action Plan to End Statelessness within 10 years as part of the #IBelong Campaign
• Encourage governments to accede to the Statelessness Conventions, establish or improve the implementation of safeguards against statelessness in nationality laws and remove gender discrimination from nationality laws

At the end of the course participants should be able to define who is stateless, analyze the causes and consequences of statelessness, identify gaps and discrimination in nationality laws and participate in designing national action plans for the prevention and reduction of statelessness and protection of stateless persons.

The registration fee amounts to 650 Euros

This fee includes tuition, certificate, lunch buffet and coffee breaks during the course, and transportation from and to Nice Airport.

Visit http://www.iihl.org/course-on-statelessness/for more information and to subscribe.