eliminate discrimination based on gender. He encourages the authorities to ensure that this is the case by introducing educational tools that emphasise equality between girls and boys, and women and men. 40. 2 Political and community leaders can play an important role in leading responsible public debates and mobilising social resources against all forms of violence against women. He particularly emphasises the positive role and benefits of public campaigns that involve men in order to send a clear message of zero-tolerance for all forms of violence against women. HUMAN RIGHTS OF CHILDREN 2.1 STATELESS CHILDREN 41. Latvia is bound under international human rights law to ensure each child’s right to a nationality. Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child provides for the child’s right to acquire a nationality at birth, and stipulates that states should ensure this right in line with the national law and obligations under international human rights instruments, in particular in situations where the child would otherwise be stateless. Moreover, Latvia is a party to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. Domestic law prohibits discrimination against children, including that based on national, ethnic or social origin, place of residence, birth or other circumstances of the child, or of his or her parents, guardians, or family members.34 42. Most stateless children in Latvia are born to Russian-speaking families whose members did not acquire Latvian nationality after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and restoration of Latvian independence. According to the official position of the Latvian government, Latvian “non-citizens” cannot be regarded as stateless persons in the meaning of the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons.35 43. The rules and procedure of naturalisation in Latvia are governed by the Citizenship Law adopted in 1994, and by Cabinet Regulation of 24 September 2013 No.1001 entitled “Procedures for Receiving and Examining Applications for Naturalisation”. Since the beginning of the naturalisation process in 1995, 144 041 applications for naturalisation concerning 157 382 persons have been received by the authorities. 144 003 persons were granted Latvian citizenship, including 14 429 minor children, who became naturalised together with their parents.36 44. In July 2003, prior to the visit to Latvia of the first Commissioner for Human Rights, the number of “non-citizens” was 494 319, making up some 21% of the population.37 According to the data provided by the Population Register, in July 2016, there were 247 104 “non-citizens”, which constituted 11.57% of the total population. Over the last year the number of “non-citizens” has further decreased by 10 273 persons. The Commissioner was informed that as of 1 July 2016, there were 6 301 stateless children; among them, 4 816 children were under the age of 15.38 34 The Law on the Protection of the Rights of the Child, English translation Latvian State Language Centre 2015. 35 Second report by Latvia under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, 3 September 2012. The UNHCR data obtained from the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA) refer to 178 officially recognised stateless persons legally residing in Latvia as of 01 January 2016. 36 Data provided by the Ministry of the Interior. 37 Report by Alvaro Gil-Robles, Commissioner for Human Rights, on his visit to Latvia, 5 - 8 October 2003 38 Data compiled and transmitted by the Latvian Ministry of the Interior. By way of comparison, in 2011 there were some 9000 stateless children in Latvia. See “Governments should act in the best interest of stateless children”, Human Rights Comment by Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, 15 January 2013 as well as “Ending Childhood Statelessness: A Study on Latvia” Working Paper 07/15, European Network on Statelessness (http://www.statelessness.eu/sites/www.statelessness.eu/files/Latvia_0.pdf). 11