METHODOLOGY Over the past few decades, civil society organizations and national stakeholders in Lebanon have made numerous efforts to amend the Lebanese Nationality Law No. 15 of 19 January 1925 to allow Lebanese women married to foreigner spouses to pass on their nationality to their husbands and children. Over the past two years, several political parties, deputies and ministers have submitted draft bills to amend the Lebanese Nationality law, including: • Draft bill submitted by former Minister of Interior and Municipalities Ziad Baroud. • Draft bill submitted by former parliamentarians Bahij Tabbara and Pierre Dakkash. • Draft bill submitted by the former member of parliament Imad Al-Hout. • Draft bill introduced by former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Gebran Basil, on 21 March 2018, to amend the Nationality Law so that Lebanese women can pass on their nationality to their families upon marriage to a foreigner, excluding marriages from neighbouring countries. • Draft bill submitted by the Democratic Gathering Bloc that lifts all forms of discrimination between men and women in the Lebanese Nationality Law. • Draft bill presented by member of parliament Rola Tabesh to allow Lebanese mothers to confer their nationality to their children on an equal footing with Lebanese men. • Finally, a draft bill presented by the National Commission for Lebanese Women (NCLW) in May 2019 that gives Lebanese women married to foreigners the right to pass on their nationality to their minor children as soon as the law enters into force. As for children who have reached the age of eighteen upon or after this law comes into force, they have the right to obtain a green card assuming all civil, economic and social rights the Lebanese enjoy, with the exception of political rights, the right to hold various public jobs, and the right to own real estate except through the Law of Acquisition of Real Estate Rights by Foreigners in Lebanon. The National Commission for Lebanese Women prepared this study as part of its follow-up to the proposed amendments to the Lebanese Nationality Law to enable a Lebanese mother to pass on her nationality to her children. The study includes information on the availability of statistical data. It also reviews the adverse effects of the deprivation of Lebanese women married to foreigners from passing on their nationality to their children on the economic, political, health, educational, social and family levels. The methodology that was adopted for this legal study is as follows: A desk review was undertaken on relevant national efforts and arguments for and against the adoption of amendments to the Nationality Law; a review of Lebanese laws on nationality and rulings 6 issued from Lebanese courts, in addition to relevant research and studies. The study also included efforts to obtain data and statistics through written correspondence to each of the following institutions: • Ministry of Interior and Municipalities. • Directorate of Personal Status and Directorate of Refugee Affairs. • Directorate of Internal Security Forces. • Directorate of General Security. • Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates. • Ministry of Health. • Ministry of Education and Higher Education. Bilateral meetings were also carried out with the Ministry of Justice, and interviews were conducted with eleven Lebanese women married to foreigners and/or their children to demonstrate the challenges they face. This legal study on the right of Lebanese women married to foreigners to confer their nationality to their children includes recommendations to counter allegations that have been used to impede amendments to the Nationality Law and recognize the rights of Lebanese mothers to pass on their nationality to their children. It also includes recommendations at the individual, community and institutional levels.