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A webinar on 4 November, “Realizing Equal Nationality Rights for All,” shined a light on the challenges facing an estimated 15 million people worldwide who are stateless, meaning no country considers them to be a national by operation of law.

Seeing the smiles of more than 4,231 Liberian children—and their parents—who have received a birth certificate has also brought a smile many times over to the face of Bishop Kortu K. Brown.

A delegation from the World Council of Churches (WCC) including representatives from Malaysia and Jordan as well as the Director of the WCC’s Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) visited The Bahamas from 13-17 November 2018 to consult with church leaders, to participate in a workshop coordinated by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The 54th meeting of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) began today in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, marking its yearly regional focus on Africa. During the meeting CCIA members are discussing the commission’s previous work and its outcomes focusing on Middle East, as well as setting strategic directions for activities until 2021.

“Statelessness renders people’s vulnerability to abuse and to denial of their rights invisible to national authorities. In this sense the right to a nationality is a threshold issue for access to protection of all other human rights - almost a 'right to have rights'”, said Peter Prove, director of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA), following a regional training workshop on birth registration and gender discriminatory nationality laws in Africa, organized by the WCC in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 11–13 May.

The average person in Europe may be having more difficulty coming to terms with the reality of migrants and refugees than ever before, said Maria Mountraki, given how close to home — literally — the influx of people has become.

Reduction in and prevention of statelessness, and the protection of stateless people in the Middle East provided the focus of a workshop organized by the WCC and the Middle East Council of Churches in Beirut, Lebanon.

“Discrimination and statelessness live side by side; it is no coincidence that most stateless people belong to racial, linguistic and religious minorities,” read a recent communique issued at the end of a World Council of Churches (WCC) consultation on stateless people in Washington, D.C., United States.

A World Council of Churches (WCC) consultation has urged protection for the rights of over 12 million stateless people around the world, encouraging  governments to ensure their basic human right to citizenship, adequate access to health care, education and employment.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) will hold an international consultation on the rights of stateless people. The event will take place in Washington, D.C., and address the concerns of nearly 12 million stateless people around the world, who are not considered a national by any state.