find that they cannot obtain recognition of either nationality, even if the law of both or either country is on the face of it gender neutral. The most recent of the countries to remove gender discrimination in nationality law is Senegal, which in 2013 adopted modifications to the nationality law to remove gender discrimination.43 Since then, many women have come forward to obtain nationality certificates for their children who had not previously been able to do so; or their spouses have been able to opt for nationality without going through the cumbersome procedure of naturalisation. Central statistics are not available, but the Tribunal départemental de Dakar reported in May 2014 that since the amendments were adopted in July 2013, it had provided somewhere between one thousand and fifteen hundred nationality certificates to the children of Senegalese women and foreign fathers.44 Removal of gender discrimination in most laws in the region has opened up access to a large number of children who were previously excluded. In Liberia, the nationality law does not provide for citizenship by descent for those born in the country, since the basis of nationality in that case is jus soli; and even though the constitution provides that any person born of a Liberian citizen is a Liberian, those born outside the country are subjected to additional procedures by the nationality law (which discriminate on the basis of the sex of the parent: see above). Citizenship is restricted to those who are “Negroes or of Negro descent”.45 Sierra Leone has an anomaly relating to the removal of jus soli citizenship rights after independence: even though birth in the territory no longer grants automatic citizenship (one parent or grandparent must also have been born there), the act follows the jus soli drafting model and provides for citizenship by descent only for those born outside the country. Thus, theoretically the child of a citizen born in Sierra Leone of a Sierra Leonean parent (provided he or she was of “negro- African descent”), but neither of them nor any grandparent also born in Sierra Leone, would not be a citizen.46 A number of countries in Africa, including Gambia in West Africa, restrict the transmission of nationality to those born outside the country to one generation. Some other countries create requirements for descent to be established for a child born outside the territory, or for the birth of the child and its parent’s nationality to be declared to the consular authorities. 2.6.2. Birth in the country Among ECOWAS countries, Cape Verde provides perhaps the strongest protection in law against statelessness for children born in the territory, by providing for a jus soli right to nationality for all children born there, provided that “the birth certificate does not include any indication to the contrary”. The law also provides for children who would otherwise be stateless to acquire Cape Verdean nationality, as well as children whose parents are stateless or unknown, or whose nationality is unknown, and children of foreign parents who have been habitually resident in Cape Verde for five years.47 Although Liberia has a jus soli right in its nationality law, it applies only to “Negroes”; while the constitution only provides for nationality on the basis of descent from a father or mother who is 43 Loi 2013-05 du 8 juillet 2013 portant modification de la loi no 61-10 du 7 mars 1961 déterminant la nationalité sénégalaise. 44 UNHCR interview, May 2014. 45 Constitution Articles 27 and 28; Aliens and Nationality Law, 1973, Article 20.1. 46 Sierra Leone Citizenship Act 1973 (amended 2006) Arts 2-5. 47 Decreto-Lei No 53/93 de 30 de Agosto de 1993 Arts 1, 3, 4, and 6. 17