marries a citizen of Lesotho shall be entitled, upon making application and upon taking the oath of allegiance, to be registered as a citizen of Lesotho.” 32. This makes Lesotho one of the 50 countries world-wide where women equal rights with men in their ability to acquire, change or retain their nationality, or to confer nationality on non-national spouses.26 In the context of Lesotho, this Article does not grant men who marry a woman with Lesotho nationality access to that citizenship, as it does for a woman who marries a Lesotho citizen. This gender discrimination can lead, as the Global Campaign on Equal Nationality Rights, to other issues, such as threatened family unity, and the lack of economic opportunities and poverty of the husband. For example, when women are unable to confer nationality on their spouses, their husbands may be denied work permits and must often pay expensive residency permits.27 33. In April 2013, the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (African Commission) passed Resolution 234 on the Right to Nationality, which reaffirmed the equal rights of men and women with respect to nationality.28 In the June session of 2016, the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on “women’s equal nationality rights in law and in practice”, with Lesotho as a co-sponsor as part of the Group of African States, which among others “urges States to take immediate steps to reform nationality laws that discriminate against women by granting equal rights to men and women to confer nationality on their children and spouses and regarding the acquisition, change or retention of their nationality”.29 Recommendations 34. Based on the content of this submission, the following recommendations are made which we hope the Committee will consider in urging the Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho to ensure the right of every individual to acquire a nationality: I. Take all necessary steps to break down barriers in accessing birth registration, including by allocating sufficient human and financial resources to the National Identity and Civil Registry Department, and ensure that the births of all children born in Lesotho are registered immediately. II. Ensure non-discriminatory, comprehensive and consistent implementation of regulations relevant to birth registration, in particular of children born in rural areas, among indigenous populations and for children not born in hospitals, including by providing for free birth registration for those unable to pay the current costs and raising awareness about the importance of birth registration. III. Undertake, as soon as possible, a full population census with a view to improving the available data on the population as a whole, in order have a 26 https://equalnationalityrights.org/the-issue/the-problem?highlight=WyJsZXNvdGhvIl0=. For a more elaborate outline of the effects of gender discrimination in nationality laws, see: https://equalnationalityrights.org/the-issue/the-problem?highlight=WyJsZXNvdGhvIl0=. 27 28 29 Human Rights Resolution on: The right to a nationality: women’s equal nationality rights in law and in practice (2016), A/HRC/RES/32/7. 9