BACKGROUND NOTE ON GENDER EQUALITY, NATIONALITY LAWS AND STATELESSNESS 2018 Sierra Leone, prior to the 2017 reform, Sierra Leonean women were denied the right to confer nationality on their children born abroad (unlike Sierra Leonean men). Other States have recently initiated discussions to reform their nationality laws. For example, reviews of the Alien and Nationality Law in Liberia and of the Code de nationalité in Togo are underway to bring them in line with their countries’ respective Constitutions which provide for equality between women and men in their ability to confer their nationality on their children. In Somalia, once enacted, a newly drafted Citizenship Bill will abolish discriminatory provisions and, inter alia, permit Somali women to confer nationality to their children on an equal basis as Somali men. In early 2018, the Sudanese Council of Ministers approved a bill, which if passed, will result in the partial reform to the nationality law of Sudan. This amendment will allow Sudanese women to confer their nationality on children where the father is from South Sudan in the same way that a Sudanese father can confer his nationality on his child where the mother is South Sudanese. However, Sudanese women who have children with men who are nationals of other countries are still unable to confer their nationality on their children on an equal basis as Sudanese men who have children with foreign spouses. In addition, unlike Sudanese men married to foreign women, Sudanese women cannot pass their nationality on to their foreign spouses. The Parliaments of Bahrain and Kuwait are currently examining proposals to review their respective nationality laws and consider reforms that would allow women to confer citizenship on their children at birth. UNHCR’s #IBelong Campaign to End Statelessness in 10 years envisages the achievement of gender equality in all nationality laws by the year 2024 as part of the Campaign’s broader goals, and sets out a practical strategy through which this can be achieved in Action 3 of the Global Action Plan. UNHCR continues its works with a range of other governments and civil society groups to promote reform to nationality laws and assist in their implementation. UNHCR | 8 March 2018 5