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This platform is the first of its kind in the MENA region. It aims to present stateless people, researchers, experts, activists, NGOs, government officials and journalists with information related to statelessness.

It also aims to shed light on the work of organizations and individuals involved in topics related to stateless people in the region. Its scope is mainly focused on countries that are members of the League of Arab States.

The goal of this platform is to create a network on statelessness in the MENA region, which will serve as a hub for organizations and individual experts to work together in hopes of reducing statelessness.

Our main objective is to help improve the situation of the millions of individuals across the MENA region who are affected by statelessness and/or are at risk of being stateless by organizing workshops and conducting research in all MENA countries where fieldwork is feasible.

This platform supports the work of the Research and Advocacy Network on statelessness (RANS) in the MENA region.

Research and Advocacy Network on statelessness – MENA

The Research and Advocacy Network on Statelessness in the MENA is established as a coordinating body and expert resource for organizations and individuals working on aspects of citizenship and nationality, with the aim of promoting the right to nationality across the MENA region. The Network comprises organizations in and of the 22 MENA countries that are members of the League of Arab States.

Vision

Contribute to filling the academic gap in studies on nationality, citizenship and statelessness in the MENA region, and to ensure all Stateless persons in the region have access to justice, protection, and to their fundamental rights.

Mission

To promote and facilitate research and contribute to policy making aimed at combating statelessness in the MENA region.

Objectives

  • Raising awareness about statelessness, its causes and consequences, across the region
  • Conducting and disseminating research on citizenship, nationality, stateless populations and those at risk of statelessness
  • Developing recommendations for states and non-state actors on laws and policies that can reduce or mitigate statelessness and its consequences.
  • Promoting civil society strategies that are informed by careful and timely research to advocate for changes in laws, policies and social conditions that will help combat statelessness
  • Engaging with governments and policy makers on the basis of well-developed research and recommendations to make the needed legal and policy changes that will reduce statelessness and expand access to citizenship and nationality.
  • Holding and facilitating public and private workshops, expert forums, conferences and meetings to share research and develop a knowledge base about citizenship, nationality, civil documentation and other issues that relate directly to causes of statelessness in the region.
  • Developing and maintaining the online Platform on Statelessness in the MENA to compile, organize and share high-quality research, reports, laws, policies and other publications related to statelessness in the MENA
  • Supporting civil society capacity to mobilize and advocate against statelessness, and to facilitate civil society interaction directly with stateless communities, and to amplify their needs and demands for lives of dignity, equality and full citizenship.

Steering Committee

Maysa Abbas Ayoub

Maysa Abbas Ayoub

Associate Director, Center for Migration and Refugee Studies, The American University in Cairo.
Yara Mourad

Yara Mourad

Assistant Director and Refugee Research and Policy Program Manager at Issam Fares Institute
Rami Sadeq Quwader

Rami Sadeq Quwader

Legal Consultant at the Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development
Mohamed Nalshek

Mohamed Nalshek

Regional Advisor, Information, Counseling and Legal Assistance (ICLA) programmes, Middle East, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).

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About Stateless Mena

This platform is the first of its kind in the MENA region. It aims to present stateless people, researchers, experts, activists, NGOs, government officials and journalists with information related to statelessness.

It also aims to shed light on the work of organizations and individuals involved in topics related to stateless people in the region. Its scope is mainly focused on countries that are members of the League of Arab States.

The goal of this platform is to create a network on statelessness in the MENA region, which will serve as a hub for organizations and individual experts to work together in hopes of reducing statelessness.

Our main objective is to help improve the situation of the millions of individuals across the MENA region who are affected by statelessness and/or are at risk of being stateless by organizing workshops and conducting research in all MENA countries where fieldwork is feasible.

This platform supports the work of the Research and Advocacy Network on statelessness (RANS) in the MENA region.

Research and Advocacy Network on statelessness – MENA

Vision

Contribute to filling the academic gap in studies on nationality, citizenship and statelessness in the MENA region, and to ensure all Stateless persons in the region have access to justice, protection, and to their fundamental rights.

Mission

To promote and facilitate research and contribute to policy making aimed at combating statelessness in the MENA region.


Objectives

1. Raising awareness about statelessness, its causes and consequences, across the region.

2. Conducting and disseminating research on citizenship, nationality, stateless populations and those at risk of statelessness.

3. Developing recommendations for states and non-state actors on laws and policies that can reduce or mitigate statelessness and its consequences.

4. Promoting civil society strategies that are informed by careful and timely research to advocate for changes in laws, policies and social conditions that will help combat statelessness.

5. Engaging with governments and policy makers on the basis of well-developed research and recommendations to make the needed legal and policy changes that will reduce statelessness and expand access to citizenship and nationality.

6. Holding and facilitating public and private workshops, expert forums, conferences and meetings to share research and develop a knowledge base about citizenship, nationality, civil documentation and other issues that relate directly to causes of statelessness in the region.

7. Developing and maintaining the online Platform on Statelessness in the MENA to compile, organize and share high-quality research, reports, laws, policies and other publications related to statelessness in the MENA.

8. Supporting civil society capacity to mobilize and advocate against statelessness, and to facilitate civil society interaction directly with stateless communities, and to amplify their needs and demands for lives of dignity, equality and full citizenship.

Steering Committee

Arab Institute for Human Rights

Hajer Chehbi Habchi

Executive Director of the Arab Institute for Human Rights

The American University in Cairo

Maysa Abbas Ayoub

Associate Director, Center for Migration and Refugee Studies, The American University in Cairo.

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Yara Mourad

Assistant Director and Refugee Research and Policy Program Manager at Issam Fares Institute

Erbil Polytechnic University

Abdullah Omar Yassen

Assistant Professor at Erbil Polytechnic University

 

ARDD

Rami Sadeq Quwader

Legal Consultant at the Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development

Norwegian Refugee Council

Mohamed Nalshek

Regional Advisor, Information, Counseling and Legal Assistance (ICLA) programmes, Middle East, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).

Hawiati

Zahra Barazi

Co-coordinator of Hawiati