A/HRC/RES/32/7 2014 Brazil Declaration and Plan of Action on strengthening the international protection of refugees, displaced and stateless persons in Latin America and the Caribbean, and other regional initiatives, including the resolution on legal identity for children, adopted in 2016 in Lusaka by the 134th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly, the first conclusions on statelessness adopted by the Council of the European Union in 2015, the African Union initiative to develop a draft protocol on the right to a nationality in Africa, the seven-point plan of action that resulted from the meeting of Parliamentarians held on 26 and 27 November 2015 in Cape Town, South Africa, which focused on the role of parliaments in preventing and ending statelessness, and the Bali Declaration on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime, which underscored the importance of regional and international cooperation, Recognizing that discrimination against women and girls in nationality laws persists in almost all regions of the world, and remains a significant cause of statelessness among men, women and children, Bearing in mind that discrimination against women and girls in nationality laws can have far-reaching consequences for entire families, including lack of documentation, which increases vulnerability to human rights abuses and violations, arbitrary arrest and detention, inability to work and marry legally, lack of freedom of movement, the worst forms of child labour, child, early and forced marriage, denial of property and land ownership, family separation, diminished access to education and health care, economic hardship, human trafficking and social and political marginalization, Noting that, among displaced, migrant and refugee populations, gender inequality in nationality laws may leave children born in woman-headed households, including those headed by indigenous women, at risk of statelessness and may pose a barrier to children’s eventual voluntary return to the country of their parents’ residence, 1. Reaffirms that the right to a nationality is a universal human right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and that every man, woman and child has the right to a nationality, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status; 2. Recognizes that it is up to each State to determine by law who its nationals are, provided that such determination is consistent with its obligations under international law, including with respect to non-discrimination; 3. Calls upon all States to adopt and implement nationality legislation consistent with their obligations under international law, including with respect to the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and girls in nationality-related matters, and with a view to preventing and reducing statelessness; 4. Urges all States to refrain from enacting or maintaining discriminatory nationality legislation with a view to avoiding statelessness and loss of nationality, preventing vulnerability to human rights violations and abuses, decreasing the risk of exploitation and abuse, and promoting gender equality in the acquisition, change, retention or conferral of nationality; 5. Urges States to take immediate steps to reform nationality laws that discriminate against women by granting equal rights to men and women to confer nationality on their children and spouses and regarding the acquisition, change or retention of their nationality; 6. Urges States that have reformed nationality laws to ensure the effective implementation of the laws, including through awareness-raising and publicity, and gender- 3