decree does not eradicate gender discrimination, and is not compatible with the principle of the best interests of the child, as children can only access nationality upon attaining majority. Furthermore, a mother’s transmission of nationality according to this decree is neither automatic nor non-discretionary, as required under international standards.15 16. The UAE is thus, one of 26 countries around the world that continues to discriminate against women in their ability to confer their nationality to their children on an equal basis with men. Given that gender discrimination in nationality laws has no basis under international human rights law, that it is easily remedied through law reform and that it continues to have significant detrimental human rights impacts including statelessness, the international community has come together to address this phenomenon under the banner of the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights.16 Furthermore, UNHCR’s Global Campaign to end statelessness prioritises the removal of gender discrimination from nationality laws through its Action Point 3.7.17 17. As Emirati nationality law does not have a provision that would entitle a child born on its territory to Emirati nationality if it would otherwise be stateless, the discriminatory nature of Emirati nationality law also puts children at heightened risk of statelessness, when a child cannot obtain the nationality of the father.18 With a substantial number of stateless individuals in the country, this is a particular problem since if the father is stateless, the child will then become stateless regardless of the status of the mother. In order to transfer nationality to their children—unless the father is stateless—women have to actively demonstrate that the father is unknown or that fatherhood was not substantiated, which can be very difficult to do, especially in a culture where having children outside of wedlock is often not accepted and may lead to stigmatisation, further exacerbating the risk that their children will remain stateless. 18. It is reasonable to conclude, that despite the creation of the National Strategy for the Advancement of Women in the UAE, there has been no attempt to remove existing discrimination against women in nationality laws. Parliament has not discussed it since and there has been limited media coverage on the issue. While the authorities appear to consider this issue as resolved, in reality, this remains an important human rights and gender equality challenge. 15 See UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Good Practices Paper - Action 3: Removing Gender Discrimination from Nationality Laws, 6 March 2015, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/54f8377d4.html 16 The Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights (the Global Campaign) is a coalition of international and national organisations that promotes gender equality in nationality laws, so that women and men can confer, acquire, change and retain their nationality on an equal basis. The Campaign has a Steering Committee comprising Equality Now, Equal Rights Trust, the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, UNHCR and Women’s Refugee Commission. The Campaign was launched in June 2014 at a Side Event at the 26th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, and has conducted numerous international advocacy activities to encourage states that still maintain gender discriminatory nationality laws to reform their laws and bring them into compliance with international human rights standards.3 17 See UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Global Action Plan to End Statelessness, 4 November 2014, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/545b47d64.html 18 For more information see UNHCR, Background Note on Gender Equality, Nationality Laws and Statelessness 2016, 8 March 2016, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/56de83ca4.html