Madagascar’s Universal Periodic Review under the Second Cycle 5. Madagascar was previously reviewed at the 20th Session of the Universal Periodic Review, under the Second Cycle. Madagascar’s State Report before the previous UPR made reference to the 2010 Constitution in Paragraphs 66 and 67, stating: “The new Constitution proclaims equality before the law for all, without distinction as to sex... Women are entitled, on the same terms as men, to choose the marital home and to receive equal treatment from the courts. Women are entitled to the same protection at all levels of the procedure without restriction.”5 6. In this report, Madagascar also noted plans to amend Ordinance No. 60-064 of 22 July 1960 on the Nationality Code to reform gender-discriminatory provisions that denied Malagasy women the right to confer nationality on their children on an equal basis with Malagasy men. Paragraph 63 of the State Report set out as follows: “In order to end the discrimination affecting children born to a foreign father married to a Malagasy woman, a bill amending and supplementing certain provisions of Ordinance No. 60-064 of 22 July 1960 on the Nationality Code has been forwarded to the competent bodies for submission to the National Assembly for adoption.”6 7. The State Report did not address the denial of the right to a nationality of communities of IndoPakistani and Comorian descent, and other populations nor the prevalence of statelessness and related human rights challenges among these communities. 8. At the 20th Session, seven States made recommendations for Madagascar to advance gender equality and fight gender-based discrimination, including in relation to exercising the right to a nationality. These recommendations were all accepted by Madagascar. 9. The United States of America recommended that Madagascar “Reform its nationality law to ensure that all citizens have equal right to confer nationality to their children and the children born to citizen mothers are no longer at risk of statelessness”.7 10. Germany recommended that Madagascar “Ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and take effective legal and practical steps to combat gender-based violence, stereotypes and promote gender equality”.8 11. Spain recommended that Madagascar “Step up its efforts to ensure that legislation combating gender-based discrimination is effectively implemented and that effective measures are adopted to strengthen gender equality”.9 12. Sudan recommended that Madagascar 5 A/HRC/WG.6/20/MDG/1, 2014. Ibid. 7 A/HRC/28/13 8 Ibid. 9 Ibid. 6 2