ACTION 3: Remove gender discrimination from nationality laws When women are unable to pass on their nationality to their children because of discriminatory nationality laws, and those children are unable to acquire nationality from the father, they are rendered stateless. This can happen where the father is stateless, unknown, or unable or unwilling to complete administrative requirements to confer his nationality or to obtain documentation to prove the nationality of the child. Progress in this area has been slow. Some 24 States continue to maintain nationality laws which do not allow women to confer nationality to their children on an equal basis as men. Since 2014, three countries have reformed their nationality laws to allow women to pass their nationality on to their children on an equal basis to men: Liberia (2022), Madagascar (2017) and Sierra Leone (2017). In addition, five States – Benin, Guinea, Lesotho, Nauru and the Solomon Islands – have introduced reforms to their nationality laws to grant women and men an equal ability to confer nationality on spouses. Regional initiatives for gender equality lead the way Nationality laws that don’t allow women to confer nationality to their children in the same way as men are not only discriminatory, but a major cause of statelessness. As a result, Action 3 has been a major emphasis throughout the #IBelong Campaign, and UNHCR has resolutely supported legislative changes and policy reforms in its consultations with States, regional networks and other key changemakers. Progress on this action has been most notable in Africa, where regional organizations have shown great commitment to ending statelessness by prioritizing gender equality. In February 2015, member countries from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) signed the Abidjan Declaration on Eradication of Statelessness, which noted that statelessness often prevents individuals from enjoying a full range of human rights and recognized the high number of stateless people – including children – across the region. It specifically addressed the issue of gender equality as well, “underlining the importance of the principles of equality and non-discrimination, particularly as they relate to the transmission of nationality to a spouse or child.” ECOWAS followed up these commitments in the Banjul Plan of Action, which was adopted two years later, in May 2017. This Plan set forth specific objectives, activities and timeframes for addressing statelessness in the region. Later in 2017, member States from the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region signed a Declaration on the Eradication of Statelessness and presented an action plan to ensure that women and men have equal rights regarding nationality, including conferring it on their children and spouses. Similarly, countries belonging to the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa endorsed the N’Djamena Initiative on the Eradication of Statelessness in December 2018, also committing to equality in nationality rights for women and men. In February 2024, the African Union Assembly of States adopted a Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, relating to the specific aspects of the right to nationality and the eradication of statelessness in Africa. The Protocol enshrines the right for both women and men to pass their nationality on to their children. These groundbreaking measures have helped advance the cause of gender equality in Africa and are key commitments towards ending statelessness on the continent. Finally, and most recently, the Arab Declaration for Belonging and Legal Identity was adopted by the League of Arab States in July 2024. This Declaration sets forth an important framework that helps respond to many of the most critical challenges in the region through measures that include efforts to prevent childhood statelessness and strengthened legal identity rights, especially for women. #IBELONG 23