A lawyer who travelled throughout his country on horseback to ensure that more than 10,000 people got vital documents, giving them access to health care and other services, will be honoured by the United Nations next week.

Azizbek Ashurov, who helped the Kyrgyz Republic become the first country in the world to eradicate statelessness, will receive the UN’s Nansen Refugee Award on Monday.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 hundreds of thousands of people across Central Asia, including 13,700 in Kyrgyzstan, were left with invalid Soviet passports and no official nation to call home. Without documents, people are prevented from accessing legal services or basic rights such as health care, education and employment.

Since 2014 Mr Ashurov and his organisation Ferghana Valley Lawyers Without Borders have helped secure passports and birth certificates for more than 10,000 people, including 2,000 children.

In July, the Kyrgyz Republic granted citizenship to the final group of stateless people, with the country-wide effort being hailed as a "breakthrough" by the UN.

“When we started the programme it was a big challenge to get people to apply. Stateless people have often been without citizenship for a long time and are afraid of institutions and deportation,” Mr Ashurov said.