The Second World Conference on Statelessness 2024 was convened at Taylor’s University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from February 26 to 29, 2024, and was co-organized by the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI), Nationality For All (NFA), Development of Human Resources for Rural Areas Malaysia (DHRRA), Family Frontiers (FF), and supported by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM).
The conference was the biggest convening of the statelessness field as it was attended by 450 in-person participants and over 100 online participants from all over the world. Around 30% of the participants who responded to a voluntary survey identified as persons with lived experience of statelessness which is a significant increase from the first World Conference in 2019, which had 10% of participants with lived experience.
The conference featured six plenary sessions including the opening and closing events, 50 distinct panel discussions, and 11 interactive workshops over the course of three and a half days focusing on the three themes of ‘Solidarity, Knowledge and Change’. The conference also featured the Arts and Culture program titled ‘Think of Others’ which was an integral part of the event and was incorporated into the main conference program. Conference Booths, run by participating organizations, also provided participants with a range of publications and paraphernalia. Participants could also purchase handicrafts, books, and other items from stalls run by stateless-led and community-based organizations.
The conference had a dedicated team of over 60 people including personnel to provide Safeguarding, Wellbeing, First Aid, Language, and Immigration support.
Launch of key milestones for the statelessness field at the Conference
The conference provided a platform for the launch of key milestones for the statelessness field that were either done in one of the sessions or as a side event during the conference. These included:
- The launch of the Global Movement Against Statelessness
- The launch of the Statelessness and Dignified Citizenship Coalition – Asia Pacific (SDCC – AP)
- The launch of the online global library and database on statelessness – StatelessHub
- The launch/activation of the Statelessness Asia Pacific Research Network (SAP Research Network)
- The launch of the second edition of the Statelessness Encyclopedia Asia Pacific (SEAP)
- The launch of a special issue of Citizenship Studies on legal identity under insurgencies and unrecognized states
- The launch of a special issue of Statelessness and Citizenship Review on early career scholarship on statelessness
- The launch of the edited collection Statelessness in Asia (published by Cambridge University Press)
- The announcement of the launch of the Global Statelessness Fund, which will provide resourcing and accompaniment support to stateless-led organizations
