States Parties condemn discrimination against women in all its forms, agree to pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination against women and, to this end, undertake: (a) To embody the principle of the equality of men and women in their national constitutions or other appropriate legislation if not yet incorporated therein and to ensure, through law and other appropriate means, the practical realization of this principle; 13. It is significant that while the Bahamas has been a State party to CEDAW since 1993, it maintains reservations to both Article 2(a) and Article 9 of the Convention.6 14. As stated by the CEDAW, Article 9 among others is “central to the object and purpose of the Convention and that the reservations impact negatively on the enjoyment by women of their rights.”7 Therefore, the maintenance of nationality laws which discriminate on the basis of gender are themselves in conflict with the object and purpose of the CEDAW and with the general obligation of all state parties to “agree to pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination against women.”8 15. The Bahamas has also entered the following reservation to CRC Article 2: The Government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas upon signing the Convention reserves the right not to apply the provisions of article 2 of the said Convention insofar as those provisions relate to the conferment of citizenship upon a child having regard to the Provisions of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.9 16. Article 2 is the general anti-discrimination clause of the CRC, which obligates states to ensure every child’s enjoyment of all rights set forth in the Convention, without discrimination of any kind, including on grounds of sex, both of the child and of the child’s parents or guardians. Hence, this reservation is clearly aimed at preserving gender discrimination in the Bahamas’ nationality laws. It must be noted though, that the Bahamas has not entered a reservation to CRC Article 7 or ICCPR Article 24(3), which guarantee every child’s right to a nationality. 17. The Bahamas is not party to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons or the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. The Bahamas’ national legal framework 18. According to the Constitution of The Bahamas, a married Bahamian father who was born after independence (in 1973) can confer nationality on his children regardless of the child’s or father’s place of birth. 19. However, clause 3(2) of the Bahamian Constitution stipulates that a Bahamian male, born abroad prior to Independence acquires Bahamian citizenship through his father but cannot readily pass on his citizenship to his offspring. 6 See https://treaties.un.org/pages/viewdetails.aspx?src=treaty&mtdsg_no=iv-8&chapter=4&lang=en#EndDec The CEDAW Committee has noted this on a number of occasions and in Concluding Recommendations for State Parties under review, including in CEDAW/C/ARE/CO/1, para 16. 8 Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (Eighteenth and nineteenth sessions), A/53/38/Rev.1, page 47. 9 See https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=IND&mtdsg_no=IV-11&chapter=4&lang=en 7