Madagascar5 made strong recommendations to the respective states to end gender discrimination in their nationality laws. According to Saudi Arabia’s nationality law, the Saudi Arabian Citizenship System, children of Saudi fathers acquire Saudi nationality at birth, regardless of the child’s birthplace, but Saudi women cannot transmit their Saudi nationality to their children born from a relationship with a non-Saudi man or from a non-marital relationship unless the father is unknown. Article 7 of the law states, “Individuals born inside or outside the Kingdom from a Saudi father, or Saudi mother and unknown father, or born inside the Kingdom from unknown parents (foundling) are considered Saudis.”6 In its last concluding observations on Saudi Arabia issued in March 2006, the Committee “recommends that the State party review its legislation on nationality in order to ensure that nationality can be transmitted to children through both the maternal and paternal line without distinction.” (CRC/C/SAU/CO/2). Saudi women are also denied the right to confer their nationality to foreign spouses, a right that is reserved for men. We acknowledge the positive step taken by Saudi Arabia in reforming its law to facilitate the naturalization of children of Saudi female citizens at the age of majority. However, this reform is inadequate and does not rectify the gender discriminatory nature of the law. Furthermore, the fact that nationality through naturalization is not a right but remains at the discretion of state authorities, and that it is only accessible upon the attainment of majority means that this step does not bring Saudi Arabia’s law into compliance with the CRC. CRC Article 2 calls on State parties to respect and ensure the rights set forth in the Convention irrespective of the child’s or his or her parent’s sex. Article 7 of the CRC states that a child has “the right to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents … in particular where the child would otherwise be stateless.” Article 8 calls for States Parties to “undertake to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including nationality, name and family relations…” Saudi Arabia’s law does not fulfill the requirements of Articles 2, 7 and 8 and should be amended without delay, including by allowing Saudi women the same right to pass their nationality to their children as that accorded Saudi men. In addition, Saudi women’s inability to confer nationality on their foreign spouses threatens a child’s right to know and be cared for by his or her parents which would violate Article 7 of the CRC. For example, when foreign men are denied access to their spouses’ nationality, they may be forced to live away from their children due to challenges in acquiring residency permits and obstacles to employment. In addition, a father may threaten to take any children away from the mother and back to his home country for a number of reasons, including if his employment and social status in his wife’s country is insecure because of his nationality status. His wife may have very limited legal means to oppose such a threat. 5 CRC/C/MDG/CO/3-4 2012: “The Committee recommends that the State party urgently finalize the reform of the legislation on nationality of children and ensures that no discrimination exists against children born of a Malagasy mother and a father of foreign nationality or children born out of wedlock. The Committee also urges the State party to ensure that children born in Madagascar do not risk being stateless.” 6 Saudi Arabian Citizenship System Article 8 further states: Individuals born inside the Kingdom from Non-Saudi father and Saudi mother may be granted Saudi: Citizenship by the decision of The Minister of Interior in case of the following conditions. a- Having a permanent Resident Permit (Iqama) when he reaches the legal age; b- Having good behaviour, and never sentenced to criminal judgment or imprisonment for more than six months; c- Being fluent in Arabic; d- Applying for the citizenship after one year of reaching the legal age