registered with UNWRA.12 Lebanon's continued unwillingness to accede to the Refugee and Statelessness conventions in this context is regrettable and contributes to the lack of a legal framework to deal with the significant numbers of stateless people in the country.13 6. Despite not being party to the Statelessness Conventions, Lebanon is a party to core international human rights treaties and conventions that confer on the state certain obligations in relation to the right to a nationality and non-discrimination. These include, among others, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC),14 the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),15 the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW),16 the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD),17 and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).18 Moreover, the right to a nationality is protected under article 15 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR).19 7. While Lebanon acceded to CEDAW, it maintains reservations to several of its articles. Notably Lebanon maintains a reservation on Article 9(2) which obligates signatories to uphold women’s right to confer nationality on children on an equal basis with men and Article 16(1)(c), which promotes equal rights and responsibilities during marriage and its dissolution.20 The CEDAW Committee has stated that reservations to article 16, irrespective of the reasons for which such reservations are lodged, are "incompatible with the Convention and therefore impermissible.”21 The co-submitting organisations consider the state’s reservation to CEDAW Article 9 equally to be contrary to the object and purpose of the Convention. We further believe that the provisions of Decree No15 on Lebanese Nationality that distinguish between men and women in respect of their ability to confer nationality contravene the general obligation to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women which arises under Article 2 of CEDAW. 8. Lebanon's unwillingness to withdraw its reservations to CEDAW and to pass reform its antiquated and discriminatory nationality law, under which a Lebanese woman cannot pass nationality to her child unless the child is born outside of legal marriage, constitutes a breach of its international obligations. Further it is inconsistent with Lebanon's assertions in its 2015 UPR submission that it is "motivated by its desire to protect and promote human rights for all its citizens without distinction, and for the foreigners resident in its territory".22 Population and Housing Census in Palestinian Camps and Gatherings in Lebanon, 2017, Key Findings Report, Lebanese Palestinian Dialogue Committee, published February 2018. http://www.lpdc.gov.lb/DocumentFiles/Key%20Findings%20report%20En636566196639789418.pdf 13 Lebanon – Submission to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 59th Session 19th September – 7th October 2016, Amnesty International, pg. 22 https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1844352016ENGLISH.PDF 14 Under article 7 (1) of the CRC, children shall have "the right from birth to a name [and] the right to acquire a nationality" and, under article 7(2), "States Parties shall ensure the implementation of these rights in accordance with their national law and their obligations under the relevant international instruments in this field, in particular where the child would otherwise be stateless". In Article 2(1) the CRC mandates that the rights included in the Convention be upheld without discrimination on the basis of the sex of the child or the child’s parents or legal guardians. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx 15Under article 24(3) of the ICCPR, "every child has the right to acquire a nationality" available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx 16 Under Article 9 CEDAW States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men with respect to the nationality of their children. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/cedaw.aspx 17 Under Article 18 CRPD States Parties shall recognize the rights of persons with disabilities to [..] a nationality, on an equal basis with others https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/ConventionRightsPersonsWithDisabilities.aspx#18 18 According to article 5 (d) (iii) of that Convention, signatories are obligated to work to eliminate racial discrimination and to "guarantee the right to everyone […] to equality before law", this including "the right to nationality. 12 Article 15(1), The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html, 0 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women New York, 18 December 1979, https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/cedaw.aspx 21 https://www.unicef.org/gender/files/Lebanon-Gender-Eqaulity-Profile-2011.pdf) 22 National report submitted in accordance with paragraph 5 of the annex to Human Rights Council resolution 16/21***, Lebanese Republic, Human Rights Council, Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, 23rd Session, page 2 19 20 3