With respect to UNHCR’s mandate to resolve existing cases of statelessness and prevent new ones from occurring, SDGs 5, 10, 16 and 17 and certain related Targets are the most relevant: SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. ƉƉ Target 5.1: End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere. ĵĵ Global Indicator 5.1.1: Whether or not legal frameworks are in place to promote, enforce and monitor equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sex. Target 5.1 is directly relevant to addressing the issue of gender discrimination in nationality laws, which is a major cause of statelessness globally. The nationality laws of more than 25 countries in almost all regions of the world prevent mothers from conferring their nationality on their children on an equal basis as men.5 In situations where fathers are missing, dead, have abandoned the family or are unwilling to take the necessary steps to transmit their nationality, children are left stateless. In more than 60 countries, nationality laws do not afford women the same rights to acquire, change or retain their nationality as men. This can lead to statelessness where nationality laws make women’s nationality status contingent on that of their husbands, or prevent (stateless) men from acquiring the nationality of their wives. Targets 10.c and 16.b (see below) may also bolster efforts to eliminate gender discrimination in nationality laws as well as efforts to eliminate other forms of discrimination in nationality laws. 5 SDG 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries. ƉƉ Target 10.3: Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies and action in this regard. ĵĵ Global Indicator 10.3.1: Proportion of the population reporting having personally felt discriminated against or harassed within the previous 12 months on the basis of a ground of discrimination prohibited under international human rights law. Discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, race, religion, gender or language remains a cause of statelessness. Instances of denial, loss and deprivation of nationality on discriminatory grounds leading to statelessness continue to occur in a wide range of countries. These include situations of mass deprivation of nationality on the grounds of ethnicity or race. Promoting international standards relating to nondiscrimination with respect to the right to nationality and the prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of nationality is therefore necessary. Target 10.3, together with Target 16.b (see below), may be helpful in this regard. Discrimination is not only a cause of statelessness, but is also experienced by many stateless persons in their daily lives. Targets 10.3 and 16.b are therefore also important to ensure that stateless persons enjoy their human rights without discrimination due to their lack of citizenship. Background Note on Gender Equality, Nationality Laws and Statelessness 2017, 8 March 2017, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/58aff4d94.html THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND ADDRESSING STATELESSNESS 3