Objectives
From 2025 to 2027, SDCC is focused on six main objectives:
Facilitate peer learning and solidarity-building among members
The SDCC will strengthen team building, knowledge sharing, and meaningful participation of persons with lived experience. SDCC will help to build relationships and solidarity and facilitate direct communication.
Strengthen capacity of members to address statelessness in their contexts
This objective of the SDCC is divided into two key focuses: internal capacity strengthening for members and for persons with lived experience. Through Fellowships, the SDCC intends to provide a pathway to engagement, membership, and leadership for persons with lived experience. This aims to ensure the skills and experience gained from the Fellowship is transferable to their home communities. Internally, the SDCC intends to support growth and development of members through frequent training and engagement opportunities.
Facilitate connections between members to encourage joint collaborations and mobilize collective action
As a regional coalition, the SDCC will serve as a connecting force for members. We will increase collective mobilisation among members to address statelessness. The SDCC aims to reduce isolation and safety risks faced by members and their communities.
Mainstream statelessness as a key human rights issues in the region
In response to the limited funding opportunities and public awareness on statelessness the SDCC seeks to raise the profile of statelessness in the Asia Pacific, through engaging in regional and global events. The SDCC will be a leader in establishing statelessness as a core human rights issue in the Asia Pacific. Through doing so the SDCC hopes to attract resources for itself and its membership to adequately address statelessness in the region.
Provide additional support to members in their advocacy efforts
In collaboration with member organisations, the SDCC will strengthen and amplify national advocacy efforts and provide the required support in response to members’ needs as well as UN cycles.
Organisational Development (Internal)
The SDCC will expand its membership base, with a focus on the Pacific, East Asia, and Central Asia. We will develop and implement key policies to enhance its operations and impact. The SDCC will strengthen internal development and accountability through the establishment of an Impacted Persons Advisory Group. These efforts will be aligned with SDCC’s broader goals of expanding its reach and improving organisational development.
Approaches
Peer-learning and Solidarity Building
The SDCC will actively foster peer-learning and solidarity among its members by creating meaningful spaces for engagement, collaboration, and shared learning. Through quarterly virtual meetings, a skills mapping initiative, collaborative research projects, and the establishment of a rapid response referral system, SDCC aims to enhance trust, knowledge exchange, and mutual support within the coalition. These efforts will enable members to learn from each other’s experiences, reduce isolation, and build collective power to address statelessness in the Asia Pacific region.
Capacity Strengthening
SDCC is committed to enhancing the capacity of its members and individuals with lived experience to effectively address statelessness. This includes hosting quarterly webinars informed by a comprehensive skills mapping exercise, focused on key topics such as digital ID, paralegal programming, and advocacy. By facilitating learning opportunities and access to expert knowledge, SDCC ensures that members are better equipped to support stateless communities in their local contexts. These activities will also foster institutional growth and empower grassroots actors to lead change.
Strengthening Meaningful Participation of Impacted Persons
To ensure that the voices of stateless individuals are central to its work, SDCC will prioritize and institutionalize their participation. This includes launching a Lived-Experience Fellowship program to build leadership pathways for impacted individuals through mentorship, training, and community engagement. Fellows will gain hands-on experience in national-level organizations and later integrate into SDCC structures such as the Community Group or the Impacted Persons Advisory Group. These efforts aim to shift participation from tokenism to meaningful leadership and co-creation.
Mainstreaming Statelessness
Recognizing the invisibility of statelessness in mainstream human rights discourse, SDCC will actively work to raise the profile of the issue across regional and global platforms. By participating in events such as the Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development and key conferences organized by international partners, SDCC seeks to frame statelessness as a fundamental human rights issue. This strategic engagement aims to generate increased awareness, attract resources, and build the political will necessary to drive structural changes in the Asia Pacific.
Direct Support to Members
SDCC will provide direct and responsive support to its members in their advocacy and operational efforts. This includes issuing joint statements, supporting national advocacy initiatives, assisting with submissions to international human rights mechanisms, and publicizing members’ work through strategic communication channels. By serving as a collaborative partner and amplifying local efforts, SDCC strengthens the regional voice against statelessness and enables members to respond more effectively to both emerging opportunities and challenges.
Advocacy and Leveraging
As part of its advocacy strategy, SDCC will leverage its regional network to amplify collective action and influence policy change. By coordinating joint submissions, engaging with the UN system, and aligning advocacy across member organizations, SDCC aims to unify and strengthen the impact of campaigns across the Asia Pacific. These initiatives are designed to support legal and policy reform, as well as to draw attention to the structural drivers of statelessness. The approach ensures that advocacy is timely, inclusive, and rooted in the lived realities of affected communities.
Learning from Lived Experience
Central to SDCC’s mission is the belief that those most affected by statelessness should be at the forefront of the movement. Through programs like the Lived-Experience Fellowship and the creation of the Impacted Persons Advisory Group, SDCC builds avenues for continuous learning from lived experience. These structures not only provide leadership opportunities but also ensure that programming and advocacy efforts are grounded in real-world insights. By embedding lived experience into its core strategy, SDCC enhances accountability, relevance, and impact in addressing statelessness.
