Overview of nationality laws that do not grant women equality with men in conferring nationality on their children Conferral of nationality by nationals at birth on biological children The table below uses a color scheme to divide the laws of the 24 States into three categories. The first group of countries (red) have nationality laws that do not allow mothers who are nationals at birth to confer their nationality on their biological children with no, or very limited, exceptions – these laws create the greatest risk of statelessness. The laws of the second group of countries (orange) allow women to confer nationality in some circumstances. For example, some make exceptions for mothers to confer nationality if the father is unknown or stateless. In the country in the third category (yellow), the gender discriminatory provisions are unlikely to result in statelessness, as nationality can be acquired by application. Finally, the country in the fourth category (grey) has enacted reform to remove gender discrimination, but the reform has yet to enter into force. The Bahamas Burundi Jordan Libya Oman Sudan Bahrain Eswatini Kiribati Malaysia Qatar Syria Barbados Iran Kuwait Mauritania Saudi Arabia Togo Brunei Darussalam Iraq Lebanon Nepal Somalia United Arab Emirates Conferral of nationality by parents who acquired nationality later in life on biological children The table below categorizes the four countries where women who acquired nationality later in life cannot confer nationality on their biological children equally with men who acquired nationality later in life into two groups. The first group of countries (red) have nationality laws where women who acquired nationality later in life cannot confer nationality on their children under any circumstances. The nationality laws of the countries in orange allow for women who acquired nationality later in life to confer nationality under some circumstances, i.e., if the father has not recognized paternity or if the mother is granted custody of the child. Burundi Dominican Republic Kiribati Yemen U N H C R > B A C K G R O U N D N O T E O N G E N D E R E Q U A L I T Y, N AT I O N A L I T Y L A W S A N D S TAT E L E S S N E S S 2 0 2 5 9