The First cycle 7. During the first cycle, The Bahamas received one relevant recommendation from Italy to ensure the registration of all children at birth, which it accepted. During the first review’s interactive dialogue, Mexico expressed concern regarding women’s inability to transmit their nationality to their children and foreign spouses on an equal basis with men. There were no recommendations specifically mentioning the right to a nationality, though several States encouraged The Bahamas to take steps to address discrimination against women and to withdraw reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The Second cycle 8. During the second cycle, The Bahamas received five recommendations from Thailand, Peru, Slovakia, Guatemala and Paraguay which related to addressing gender discrimination in nationality laws, which it noted. Mexico urged The Bahamas to ensure universal birth registration, regardless of the immigration status of the parents. Ireland urged the State to establish and implement a statelessness determination procedure and afford stateless people adequate protection. The Bahamas accepted both these recommendations. The Third cycle 9. During the third cycle, The Bahamas received thirteen recommendations by Australia, Sierra Leone, Haiti, Iceland, Argentina, Cote d'Ivoire, Uruguay, Trinidad and Tobago, Peru, Indonesia, Namibia, and Spain in relation to nationality and statelessness. Five recommendations focused specifically on recognising women’s equal rights with men with regard to transmission of their nationality to their children, which the Bahamas noted. 10. The only recommendation accepted by The Bahamas was to intensify efforts aimed at addressing the discriminatory provisions in nationality laws, made by Namibia. 11. Peru, Cote d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone, and Haiti recommended The Bahamas to accede to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and/or the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Spain recommended The Bahamas to sign the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and withdraw the reservations to the Convention’s articles 2 (a) and 9 (2) on nationality. The Bahamas noted all these recommendations. 12. Indonesia recommended the Bahamas to continue enhancing the protection of the rights of the child, in particular to ensure every child’s right to nationality and citizenship. The Bahamas noted this recommendation. The Bahamas’ International Obligations 13. The Bahamas is party to a number of international and regional human rights instruments which guarantee the right to nationality, prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, and protect the rights of stateless persons including:4 ● The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Articles 7 and 8; ● The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Article 9. ● The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), Article 5(d)(iii)). ● The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), Article 18. 4 See: https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ParticipationStatus.aspx?clang=_en.