Nationality laws which do not grant women equality with men in conferring nationality on their children are a cause of statelessness and a concern for UNHCR.1 Since 2012, UNHCR has, in line with its mandate to prevent and reduce statelessness, issued an annual background note on gender equality in provisions in nationality laws which relate to conferral of nationality on children. This background note provides the most up-to-date information available to UNHCR as of March 2023. Sixty years ago, the nationality laws of the majority of States did not provide equal rights to women in nationality matters. This has radically changed for the better since the adoption in 1979 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). UNHCR’s survey of nationality legislation reveals that equality between men and women relating to conferral of nationality upon children2 has not yet been attained in 24 countries, and these countries are located in almost all parts of the world. A significant number of these States are found in the Middle East and North Africa (twelve countries). Five States in Asia and the Pacific and five States in Sub-Saharan Africa do not grant mothers equal rights as fathers to confer their nationality on their children, and the same is the case in two States in the Americas. These States are listed in the table on page 7 and an analysis of those countries’ laws is presented on pages 7-12. It is important to note that an additional group of States grant equality to men and women with regard to the nationality of children but not with regard to acquisition, change or retention of nationality upon change in civil status.3 Gender inequality in nationality laws can create statelessness where children cannot acquire nationality from their fathers. This can occur (i) where the father is stateless; (ii) where the laws of the father’s country do not permit conferral of nationality in certain circumstances, such as when the child is born abroad; (iii) where a father is unknown or not married to the mother at the time of birth; (iv) where a father has been unable to fulfill administrative steps to confer his nationality or acquire proof of nationality for his children because, for example, he has died, 1 Discrimination between men and women in nationality matters is addressed in a number of international human rights treaties. Article 9 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) guarantees women’s equality (i) with respect to acquisition, change, or retention of their nationality and (ii) their ability to confer nationality on their children. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other treaties also address the issue. 2 The scope of the survey is limited to issues concerning conferral of nationality by maternal descent to biological children born as of March 2022. For example, it is known that a number of countries do not allow naturalized mothers to confer their nationality to their children on the same basis as men. Other countries place limitations on the ability of adoptive mothers to confer their nationality equally with adoptive fathers. Some countries that have reformed their laws to ensure equal rights concerning transmission of nationality by mothers and fathers have not done so with retroactive effect, such that children born before the date of the reform may not be able to acquire nationality from their mothers on the same basis as they can from their fathers. These examples are not included within the scope of this survey. 3 An assessment undertaken by UNHCR shows that more than 50 States retain such legal provisions. 2 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 3