nationality to be transmitted from parent to child (jus sanguinis) through the paternal line. In other words, a father could confer his nationality to his child, but a mother could not (other than in a number of exceptional circumstances). Although the numbers were unknown, it was believed that this policy was leading to the creation of statelessness among a substantial number of children born to female nationals who could not transmit their nationality. In a bid to tackle these cases of statelessness at their source and in line with further efforts to promote gender equality in these States, a campaign was begun to reform the nationality laws. Women’s rights organisations led the way, undertaking research to gain a better understanding of the situation and what problems these laws were causing for women and their families. The advocacy that followed, in which the media also played an important part, was directed largely at the legislative bodies in each State. In the end, the desired legal reforms and amendments to the existing nationality acts were introduced which gave women the right to transmit their nationality to their children. Aware of the need to not only prevent, but also resolve cases of statelessness, the governments adopted special policies when implementing the legal reform which allowed children born before the change in the law to benefit from the reform. For example, in Egypt if the mother was a national but the children had previously missed out on citizenship due to the discriminatory clause in the law, they could now acquire nationality by registering with the authorities. This registration procedure held enormous potential for the reduction of statelessness, so long as it was implemented fairly and correctly. So, following on from their major success, the women’s rights organisations have now turned their attention to helping to monitor the effects of the new law, for example by bringing test cases before the national courts. This brief account of a large-scale campaign for the reduction of statelessness describes five main stages: 1. Research 2. Advocacy 3. Legal reform 4. Implementation (registration) 5. Monitoring Taking each stage in turn, ask the students to consider what types of strategy or activity could be envisaged and whether the “role” that they are playing (i.e. the State, the stateless population, the international community or civil society) should be involved. For instance, the description above mentions research conducted by women’s rights organisations, one actor within civil society. What types of strategy or activity may be involved in researching a situation of statelessness (e.g. a population census, questionnaires, in-depth interviews) and what other actors may be involved (e.g. community leaders within the stateless population, local State officials, an international human rights body). Ask the students to try to come up with at least 2 different concrete strategies or activities for each stage and to make a note of as many ways as possible in which different actors can become involved – also noting if they do not see any part for their “role” in a particular stage of the reduction campaign. Then compare answers between groups. Exercise 9 Nationality and rights under contemporary human rights law Interactive classroom activity or take-home exercise Ask the students to read the following two short extracts, both discussing the concept of human rights: Declaration of Human Rights, 1948: • Universal All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights [...]. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, 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. in “The Origins of Totalitarianism”, 1951: • HannahTheArendt conception of human rights, based upon the assumed existence of a human being as such, A Guide to Teaching on Statelessness 55