RESEARCH AND MAPPING

Collaborative Research

SNAP had conducted some studies on nationality laws in Myanmar, Malaysia, and Indonesia. SNAP also provided technical support in editing and reviewing publications of SNAP members. Currently, NFA is conducting three different studies in collaboration with our partners in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal.

Statelessness Mapping

NFA in our first year completed a mapping of the citizenship laws, population, and stakeholders working on statelessness in the Asia Pacific region. NFA will publish the mapping report in November 2022. This mapping data will then be updated every six months and shared with the relevant stakeholders and will also be made available online.

CAPACITY STRENTHENING

SNAP conducted a series of webinars and online discussions and supported members’ participation in capacity-strengthening training programs. Under NFA’s Capacity Strengthening Program, we provide three different kinds of services to our partners.

Institution Incubation

NFA has adapted the business incubation model which is a common practice in the business sphere to support startups. NFA provides this incubation service to new organizations that are led by persons with lived experience of statelessness. Currently, NFA is providing such service to Citizenship Affected People’s Network (CAPN) in Nepal.

Lived Experience Leadership Program

NFA and CAPN are jointly implementing a six-month fellowship program for stateless persons or persons with lived experience of statelessness in Nepal. Four young fellows will soon be placed in an organization of their choosing to gain the necessary skills, knowledge, and experience in their preferred sector of work. Additionally, NFA has designed a year-long leadership development program for two senior staff members of CAPN.

Strategic Planning

NFA is supporting the long-term strategic planning of our partners in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Malaysia. Additionally, NFA also provides immediate ad-hoc support to our partners depending on the need and interests of the partners.

ADVOCACY

Building on SNAP’s 5-year advocacy strategy to address statelessness, NFA has delineated three key thematic areas and two crosscutting areas for advocacy:

Key thematic areas:

  1. Childhood Statelessness
  2. Discriminatory nationality laws and policies
  3. Arbitrary Immigration Detention

Cross-cutting areas:

  1. Statelessness as experienced by Rohingya refugees
  2. Inclusive Digital Identification

NFA’s activities under the Advocacy program can be categorized into two different types based on the distinct objectives they fulfill and the method of advocacy.

Human rights advocacy

SNAP worked with SNAP’s international and country-based members to submit collaborative submissions to the Universal Periodic Review on nationality and statelessness in Bangladesh, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan, and Brunei to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women on Nepal’s gender discriminatory laws. NFA collaborated with ISI and national organizations to prepare the submission for India and Pakistan in the 3rd cycle of UPR. NFA collaborated with national organizations in South Korea to make a submission in the 3rd cycle of UPR.

Advocacy for inclusion

NFA is a member of regional and global alliances and coalitions on statelessness. NFA aims to advocate for fair and meaningful participation of persons with lived experience of statelessness in all these coalitions.

COALITION BUILDING

NFA facilitates and provides support to form three different types of formal and informal coalitions for the purpose of conducting joint advocacy and for solidarity building.

Regional Alliance

NFA is working with UNHCR to create a regional alliance of organizations working on statelessness and the right to nationality in the Asia Pacific region. NFA recently organized a regional consultation with interested organizations and is organizing an in-person event in November 2022 to create an alliance of around 20 organizations. NFA will act as the Secretariat of the regional alliance.

National Civil Society Coalition

National civil society coalitions are an important mechanism for addressing statelessness, due to their collective voice and cumulative resources. Nepal and India already have an active network of civil society organisations working on citizenship rights. NFA is currently exploring the possibility of facilitating the creation of similar coalitions in other countries in the region through stakeholder mapping and feasibility studies. At the same time, NFA will also facilitate the strategic formation of coalitions of national NGOs and persons with lived experiences in such groups.

Coalition of persons with lived experience of statelessness

In several countries in the region, such as Nepal and Bangladesh, coalitions of persons with lived experience already exist. NFA is currently supporting the capacity building of such coalitions in Nepal and Bangladesh following their own visions and requests for support. Following the models of the two countries, NFA is exploring creating similar coalitions in Indonesia and Cambodia.