However, legal reforms in a number of countries in Asia, the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region, SubSaharan Africa and Europe have succeeded in introducing equality between women and men in their ability to confer nationality on their children.3 This Good Practices Paper explains how such reforms were achieved in Algeria, Morocco and Senegal. It also describes the Arab Women’s Right to Nationality Campaign, an exemplary advocacy effort in the MENA region that paved the way for pioneering reforms in a number of countries and continues to push for more progress. The successful law reform processes in Algeria, Morocco and Senegal present lessons that can be of use when promoting change elsewhere. In each of these countries, there was commitment to reform at the highest levels of government, growing social acceptance of gender equality, and action by women’s groups and other civil-society actors to establish an environment favourable to change in the law. Each country also proved the benefit of greater collaboration between those working to end statelessness and traditional women’s rights organizations. Ultimately, a careful assessment of the unique opportunities and challenges present in each country must guide all attempts at reform. Depending upon the circumstances, approaches to governments could be made directly, or through international human rights mechanisms (such as the CEDAW Committee which supervises implementation of the Convention), or through both. The Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights, launched in 2014 by the Women’s Refugee Commission, Equality Now, the Equal Rights Trust, the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, UN Women and UNHCR should give an added boost to global efforts to end gender discrimination in nationality laws.4 HIGHLIGHTS OF LAW REFORM EFFORTS IN ALGERIA, MOROCCO AND SENEGAL àà Reform was achieved through simple legislation granting women and men equal rights to confer nationality.5 In all instances, complicated legislation was replaced by a one-sentence provision. àà Advocates for change in Algeria and Morocco engaged with the CEDAW Committee, which in turn made recommendations to the authorities on implementation of their international gender-equality obligations. This encouraged governments to work with advocates at the national level, fostering constructive dialogue for law reform. àà Determining the advantages and disadvantages of tying gender equality in nationality matters to broader gender-equality agendas proved particularly important. In Algeria, the Nationality Code was reformed at the same time that the Family Code was partially reformed, whereas in Morocco the Nationality Code was amended after sweeping reform of the Family Code. àà In both Morocco and Senegal it was demonstrated that measures to enable women to exercise political power helped create environments favourable to gender equality in nationality law. àà Highlights of the Moroccan civil-society campaign included the use of first-hand testimonials from families affected by the law, a media campaign and strategic partnership with journalists, and outreach to government stakeholders. In the cases of Algeria and Senegal, women in the diaspora mobilized to promote law reform. 3 For example, reforms granting women equal rights to confer their nationality on their children have been achieved over the last decade in countries as diverse as Sri Lanka (2003), Egypt (2004), Algeria (2005), Indonesia (2006), Sierra Leone (partial reform in 2006), Morocco (2007), Bangladesh (2009), Zimbabwe (2009), Kenya (2010), Tunisia (remaining gaps addressed in 2010), Yemen (2010), Monaco (2005, 2011), Senegal (2013) and Suriname (2014). 4 Information about this campaign is available at: http://equalnationalityrights.org 5 A table of the relevant legislative texts pre- and post-reform is provided in the Annex to this Good Practices Paper. 2 CAMPAIGN TO END STATELESSNESS WITHIN 10 YE ARS