discriminatory towards women, such as those not granting them guardianship of their children, disabling them from travelling on their own with their children or not allowing them to transfer their citizenship to their children”.15 Namibia recommended that Syria “amend the citizenship law of 1969, which prevents women from granting citizenship to their children, to ensure women’s right to grant citizenship to their children”.16 Syria accepted both of these recommendations. 8. Further, Syria received numerous recommendations on gender equality and addressing gender-based violence, including, inter alia, a recommendation from Nicaragua to “continue and strengthen efforts in the fight for gender equality”17 and from Sierra Leone to “adopt national legislation criminalizing domestic violence”.18 Syria accepted these recommendations, but has t0-date, failed to implement them.19 9. In 2019, the Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed concern regarding the right to a nationality for children and women in Syria, recommending that Syria: (a) Repeal all the legal provisions that discriminate against girls, such as those concerning unequal inheritance rights, as well as provisions not allowing children to receive their mother’s nationality, not allowing children born to unmarried parents to have their father’s name registered in civil records, and establishing a different age of custody for girls and boys; (…) (a) Strengthen its efforts to re-establish civil affairs services throughout the territory, take into account the difficulties faced by families currently or previously living in areas controlled by non-State actors in gaining access to official documentation, and consider recognizing documents issued locally by mukhtars or sheikhs to facilitate the issuance of birth certificates; (b) Consider waving fees for late birth registration, in particular among displaced families and those living in areas newly under State control, and consider adopting temporary measures, such as mobile teams to assist families in hard-to-reach areas, to promote and facilitate birth registration; (c) Review its legislation to implement gender-equitable measures regarding civil documentation allowing women to be the legal guardians of their children and promptly adopt the draft amendment to article 3 of the law on nationality allowing Syrian women to transmit nationality to their children on an equal basis with Syrian men; (d) Amend the Personal Status Code to ensure that children of Muslim mothers and non-Muslim fathers, children born to unmarried parents and children born from situations of sexual violence are recognized, registered and have access to birth registration documents; 15 Human Rights Council, ‘Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review on the Syrian Arab Republic,’ A/HRC/34/5 (2nd cycle, 27 December 2016), Recommendation 109.91. 16 Human Rights Council, ‘Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review on the Syrian Arab Republic,’ A/HRC/34/5 (2nd cycle, 27 December 2016), Recommendation 109.90. 17 Human Rights Council, ‘Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review on the Syrian Arab Republic,’ A/HRC/34/5 (2nd cycle, 27 December 2016), Recommendation 109.86. 18 Human Rights Council, ‘Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review on the Syrian Arab Republic,’ A/HRC/34/5 (2nd cycle, 27 December 2016), Recommendation 109.15. 19 For a full list of recommendations relating to gender equality, see Annex 1. 3