On 10 November the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR donated 70 sets of computer equipment to the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Statistics. The State Committee will use this equipment to digitalize the data collection process during the pilot census of November 2021, as well as the national population census scheduled for November 2023.
Censuses provide a critical opportunity for governments to gather statistics and information on the situation of stateless persons. UNHCR is pleased to assist Uzbekistan’s collection, analysis and dissemination of data on stateless persons, in line with the principle of “leaving no one behind”, to support the achievement of legal identity of all persons (SDG 16.9) and other goals of the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development.
Yu Yu, UN Resident Coordinator a.i. in Uzbekistan emphasized that “It is essential that the census in Uzbekistan is run in accordance with international principles and standards and is of high quality. Ensuring that stateless persons are accounted for, through collaboration between the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Statistics and UNHCR, is part and parcel of this process, and a testament to the Leave No One Behind principle’’.
“Improving qualitative and quantitative data on statelessness is one of the action points of the Global #IBelong Campaign to End Statelessness by 2024. UNHCR appreciates Uzbekistan’s commitment to map the full extent of statelessness, important to continue good progress towards ending statelessness on its territory. Today the right of every person to a nationality is as critical as ever.” said Hans Friedrich Schodder, UNHCR Representative for Central Asia.
Statelessness is estimated to affect millions of people around the world but measuring the full extent of statelessness is complex given that stateless people are often undocumented and remain unseen and unheard. People who are not accepted as nationals of any country can be deprived of basic rights, including civil and political rights such as freedom of movement, freedom from arbitrary detention, and political participation. Statelessness also affects their socio-economic rights such as education, employment, social welfare, housing and healthcare.
