31. In addition to women’s inability to confer nationality on children on an equal basis with men, Article 50 pertaining to the renunciation of nationality, further undermines the rights of women and girls. By requiring citizens attain the age of majority to renounce citizenship, unless the person is a girl seeking to marry a foreigner and acquire their nationality, Article 50 exposes girls to risk of child marriage. 32. Gender discrimination in nationality laws is a leading cause of statelessness globally. The Swazi nationality law includes gender discriminatory provisions that contribute to statelessness, yet there is no statistical information on the scope or extent of statelessness in the country. The lack of statistical information in itself points to a significant need for the state to prioritise and address the issue of the right to nationality and the rights of stateless persons in the country. This is particularly so, when considering the various legal provisions which undermine the right to nationality, thereby increasing the likelihood of statelessness being generated and perpetuated. Although the Eswatini Government made a pledge at the 2019 UN Refugee Agency's High-Level Segment on Statelessness (HLS) committing to support reforms to achieve a gender-equal nationality laws, technical work has yet to be conducted to ensure that this commitment is fulfilled by 2024. 33. The denial of equal nationality rights leads to both the denial of proof of legal identity and the denial of the right to a nationality. Furthermore, discrimination in Eswatini’s nationality laws inhibits women’s ability, in practice, to freely choose a spouse, in violation of CEDAW Article 16. This further entrenches traditional stereotypes regarding the primacy of male legal identity, and contributes to women’s inequality within the family and society at large.13 Further entrenchment of such stereotypes is in breach of Eswatini’s obligations under CEDAW Article 5(a). Discrimination against Swazi women in the nationality law further contributes to genderbased violence, as recognised in CEDAW General Comment No. 19. Affected women are denied family stability, and their children are denied citizenship, stable residency, the right to equal education and healthcare, and social services. This amounts to a form of legally-sanctioned gender-based violence, depriving Swazi women and their children of equal protection under the law.14 Issue II - Children’s right to nationality 34. A combination of gender-discriminatory provisions in the nationality law, lack of safeguards against childhood statelessness for children born in the country and the low levels of birth registration result in many children being denied the right to nationality, in violation of Eswatini’s obligations under the CRC, as well as other treaties such as CEDAW, ICCPR, and CERD, to which Eswatini is also a state party. 13 Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights – UNHCR, “CEDAW Quick Reference Guide: Statelessness and Human Rights Treaties,” 2017, available at: http://equalnationalityrights.org/images/zdocs/CEDAW-Quick-Reference-Guide.pdf 14 See Comm. on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, General Recommendation No. 19, Violence against Women, Paragraph 1, 4, 6, 7-e and f, and 8 (11th session, 1992) 7