Advancing the right to a Nationality in the Asia Pasific
Nationality For All was established in 2020, emerging from the legacy of the Statelessness Network Asia Pacific (SNAP), which played a pioneering role in building awareness, civil society coordination, and advocacy on statelessness in the region. Recognizing the need for a more structured and regionally focused institution to sustain and deepen this work, NFA was created as an independent organization to combine research, advocacy, partnership strengthening, and movement-building. Today, NFA serves as a regional platform connecting affected-person-led organizations, grassroots movements, civil society actors, researchers, and global advocacy spaces to advance inclusive and rights-based solutions to statelessness and nationality exclusion. While legally registered in Australia, NFA’s regional operations are based in Nepal, reflecting our commitment to being closer to the communities and movements we work alongside.
NFA’S VALUES ON EMPOWERMENT AND INCLUSIVITY
We believe that persons with lived experience of statelessness should lead in determining how statelessness is addressed.
NFA’S ESSENCE
Our Core Values, Vision and Mission
OUR CORE VALUES
NFA is committed to supporting the leadership and agency of persons with lived experience of statelessness by ensuring their meaningful participation in the planning, design, implementation and monitoring of our activities.
OUR VISION
A region where every person enjoys the right to a nationality, lives with dignity, and participates equally in society.
OUR MISSION
To advance the rights and leadership of people affected by statelessness and nationality discrimination through research, advocacy, institutional strengthening, and regional solidarity.
OUR PRINCIPLES
NFA’s Guiding Principles in Statelessness Advocacy
Respect and Inclusion
We respect the opinions and perspectives of persons with diverse backgrounds and experiences with compassion and without prejudice or judgement. We strive to create inclusive spaces and platforms to promote fair, meaningful and dignified participation of persons with lived experience, amplifying their voices and supporting their leadership in efforts to address statelessness.
Collaboration and Trust
Our activities are strategically chosen and designed in close collaboration with our partners operating in the relevant country. We value the relationships we have formed with our partners and strive towards building deeper working relationships based on trust, equality and a shared vision.
Feminism
We approach all of our activities with an intersectional feminist lens, being mindful of the power-relationships, privileges and marginalisation every person, group and community subscribes to, and refrain from taking advantage of the emotional labour of persons with lived experience.
Our Approach
NFA does not operate as a traditional service-delivery organization.
Our work focuses on strengthening systems, institutions, and movements that can create lasting structural change.
Our approach includes:
Research and Knowledge Building
We generate evidence, analysis, and practical tools that support advocacy and policy reform. Our flagship initiative, the Statelessness Encyclopedia Asia Pacific (SEAP), is one of the region’s most comprehensive knowledge resources on nationality, statelessness, legal identity, and digital inclusion.
Advocacy and Policy Influence
We engage with national, regional, and global human rights mechanisms to promote legal reform, strengthen accountability, and advance inclusive nationality laws and policies.
Partnership Strengthening
We provide long-term accompaniment and institutional support to impacted-person-led and community-rooted organizations working on statelessness and citizenship rights.
This includes strategic planning, fundraising support, organizational development, advocacy mentoring, and peer learning.
Coalition and Movement Building
We support collective action by strengthening regional and global networks, facilitating collaboration, and creating spaces for solidarity, exchange, and shared advocacy.
Our Theory of Change
NFA believes that statelessness is both a cause and consequence of structural exclusion.
Ending statelessness requires more than legal reform alone. It requires stronger evidence, accountable institutions, empowered affected communities, and sustained regional collaboration.
We believe meaningful change happens when:
- people affected by statelessness are recognized as leaders, not only participants
- civil society organizations are institutionally resilient and strategically equipped
- data and research are translated into advocacy and policy action
- governments and institutions are held accountable to human rights standards
- regional solidarity strengthens national movements and amplifies collective voice
Why Asia and the Pacific?
Asia and the Pacific is home to the majority of the world’s stateless population and includes some of the most complex and under-documented nationality challenges globally.
The region faces diverse drivers of statelessness, including:
- gender discriminatory nationality laws
- ethnic and racial discrimination
- gaps in birth registration and civil documentation
- migration and displacement
- state succession and historical exclusion
- emerging risks linked to digital identity systems and legal invisibility
Despite these challenges, the region is also home to powerful movements led by affected communities advocating for change.
NFA exists to strengthen these efforts.
Regional Presence
NFA works across Asia and the Pacific through partnerships, research, advocacy, and regional initiatives.
Our work spans South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, Central Asia, and the Pacific, in collaboration with affected communities, civil society organizations, researchers, UN agencies, and regional platforms.
Funding Partners
Behind every effort to end statelessness are people and organisations who believe in the power of community, justice, and belonging.
Nationality for All is deeply grateful to our funding partners whose trust and support make our work possible. Their commitment helps us strengthen community-led paralegal initiatives, build regional solidarity, and ensure that every person’s right to nationality is recognised and protected.
With heartfelt thanks to:
Together, we are working toward a future where everyone has the right to belong everywhere.