Equal Citizens, Thriving Families, Stronger Societies: Realizing Gender-Equal Nationality Rights in the Middle East-North Africa Region INTRODUCTION Today there are 25 countries globally that deny women the right to confer nationality on their children on an equal basis with men. Roughly 50 countries have gender discriminatory provisions in their nationality laws, which discriminate against women in terms of their ability to retain their nationality or to confer nationality on spouses. While gender discriminatory nationality laws can be found in regions across the globe, the highest concentration are in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Just under half of the countries that deny mothers the equal ability to confer nationality on children – 12 of the 25 – are in MENA, and 19 out of the 53 countries maintaining other gender discriminatory provisions are also in the region. However, MENA is also the region that has witnessed the greatest number of reforms advancing gender equal nationality rights since 2000. In just thirteen years, five countries in the region – Algeria (2005), Egypt (2004), Morocco (2007), Tunisia (2010), Yemen (2010) – have enacted reforms enshrining the equal ability of citizens to confer nationality on their children. In the case of Algeria and Tunisia, reforms also upheld the right of women to confer nationality on their spouses. In 2006, Iraq enacted reforms upholding citizens’ equal ability to confer nationality on children born inside the state territory. Other countries in the region have enacted partial reforms to expand women’s nationality rights, as well as policies to lessen the harm caused to affected families. Importantly, many governments in the region have expressed their commitment to addressing gender inequality in their nationality laws. Historically, the norm in countries across the globe, nationality laws that deny women equal rights with men are overwhelmingly the legacy of colonial rule, with newly independent states having modelled their nationality laws on those of the former colonial powers. Today, most countries across the world have enacted reforms to guarantee equal nationality rights for all citizens. When these reforms were enacted in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Tunisia, and Yemen, policy makers not only recognized the need to uphold women and men as equal citizens, but also recognized the immense harm discriminatory nationality laws caused to women citizens, their families, and to the country as a whole. Prior to reform, affected citizens’ families suffered serious hardships and rights violations. Their children often lacked equal access to education and healthcare. As adults, affected persons lacked access to employment in many sectors, and were often forced into informal labor, exploited by employers, or suffered unemployment. Mothers were inhibited from passing their inheritance and family property to their children. In some instances, children were left with no nationality at all – with no ability to travel abroad, and no ability to thrive in their homeland. Family members struggled to secure residency permits and parents lived in fear that children would be deported. For many, their lack of legal status even meant they could not marry or have children, all because half of the country’s citizens were not treated as full citizens in the nationality law. 2