Targeted actions of the 28 priority operations Action 2: Ensure that no child is born stateless The majority of the world’s stateless people have lacked nationality since birth. Their parents could not confer their nationality or were stateless themselves, or the child was abandoned and the parents were unknown. The introduction of three key safeguards in the nationality law averts statelessness in these situations. The safeguards prevent statelessness by granting nationality to (a) children born on the territory who would otherwise be stateless, (b) abandoned children, and (c) children born abroad to nationals who would otherwise be stateless. Examples of relevant targeted actions • • • UNHCR, IOM and UNICEF continue working with the Government of Colombia to remove barriers to the acquisition of nationality for children born in the country to Venezuelan parents. UNHCR is supporting the Government of the Philippines in implementing a recent law reform which stipulates that foundlings are presumed natural-born Filipino citizens. UNHCR is advocating with the government of the Central African Republic to insert a safeguard in the nationality code to grant nationality to children born in the country if they would otherwise be stateless. Action 3: Remove gender discrimination from nationality laws A key cause of statelessness is gender discrimination in nationality laws which prevent women from passing on their nationality to their children. This leads to statelessness where the father is stateless, unknown, unable or unwilling to complete administrative requirements to confer his nationality. Addressing this cause requires law reform which grants women equal rights in conferring nationality to their children as men. Such a measure should have retroactive effect. Examples of relevant targeted actions • UNHCR is reinforcing its advocacy efforts for the removal of gender discrimination in the nationality laws of Eswatini and Malaysia, in order to allow mothers to confer their nationality to their children on an equal basis as fathers. UNHCR > #IBELONG CAMPAIGN TO END STATELESSNESS: ACCELERATING ACTION IN THE FINAL TWO YEARS OF THE CAMPAIGN 7