or to the entirety of Article 9.2 The countries with discriminatory nationality laws that are parties to CEDAW without a reservation against Article 9(2) are: Barbados, Burundi, the Dominican Republic, Eswatini, Iraq, Kiribati, Libya, Madagascar, Mauritania, Mauritius, Nepal and Yemen. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) – which enjoys near-universal ratification – further reinforces the framework by protecting every child’s right to acquire a nationality (Article 7). Similarly, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) protects children’s right to acquire a nationality (Article 24) and mandates equal protection of the law without any discrimination (Article 26), further buttressing the principle of gender-equal nationality rights. At the regional level, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) commits States to ensure women’s equal rights in nationality matters, including the ability to confer nationality on their children (Article 6). The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights Relating to the Specific Aspects of the Right to a Nationality and the Eradication of Statelessness in Africa enshrines equal nationality rights for women and men to acquire, change, or retain their nationality, and to confer nationality on their children (Article 4). In the Americas, the American Convention on Human Rights (Article 20) protects the right to nationality, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has issued landmark rulings that recognize the importance of gender-equal nationality laws in preventing statelessness. In Europe, the European Convention on Nationality obligates States to eliminate gender discrimination in nationality laws, underscoring equal rights for parents to pass on their nationality (Article 5). Beyond legal instruments, a number of regional declarations and plans of action have also been adopted to promote gender equality in nationality laws. In 2015, Member States of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) committed to ensuring that women and men have equal rights to confer nationality on their children under the Abidjan Declaration of Ministers of ECOWAS Member States on Eradication of Statelessness. The States reiterated this commitment in the legally binding Banjul Plan of Action, adopted in 2017. Also in 2017, Member States of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region signed a Declaration on the Eradication of Statelessness and an accompanying Plan of Action, which commits those States to ensuring that women and men have equal rights to acquire, change, and retain their nationality and to confer their nationality on their children and spouses. In 2018, Member States of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa endorsed the N’Djamena Initiative on the Eradication of Statelessness in Central Africa, under which they commit to ensuring equal nationality rights for women and men to acquire, change, retain, and transmit their nationality. In 2023, the League of Arab States (LAS) adopted the Arab Declaration on Belonging and Legal Identity, which calls for member states to strengthen women’s right to confer their nationality and to lift reservations to CEDAW related to this right. The Declaration was formally launched by LAS in July 2024. 2 These countries are: The Bahamas, Bahrain, Brunei Darussalam, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates. 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 6 5