14. This discrimination results in severe hardship for the families concerned. Women and their families have suffered through lack of access to social services. Such distinctions in the transmission of citizenship violate the right to equality, and constitute discrimination on the basis of sex in breach of international law. As described above, they can also result in statelessness of children who cannot acquire their mother’s nationality, when their father is himself stateless, deceased, unwilling or unable to cooperate. Significantly, gender discrimination in nationality laws can perpetuate statelessness across generations, with children rendered stateless through such provisions growing up to be adults who have no nationality to pass on to their own children. 15. In addition to its impact on children, the Sudanese Nationality Act of 1994 clearly also denies women equal protection of the law. Despite provisions granting children of Sudanese women the right to citizenship through application. 16. Families of Sudanese women, whose children and spouses are denied Sudanese citizenship, continue to face significant hardships and human rights violations due to gender discrimination in the country’s nationality law. Recommendations 17. The Human Rights Council has stated that “[t]he second and subsequent cycles of the review should focus on, inter alia, the implementation of the accepted recommendations and the developments of the human rights situation in the State under review”. 2 Sudan has failed to adequately address various relevant recommendations under the first cycle. The recommendations below, build on previous state recommendations but also introduce new recommendations related to ending gender discrimination in Sudan’s nationality law and the devastating human impact of such discriminatory law, including that of statelessness: 2 I. Take immediate steps to amend/repeal all discriminatory provisions in the Sudanese Nationality Act of 1994 that prevent women from acquiring, retaining and transferring citizenship on an equal basis with men, and ensure the effective implementation of the law. II. Fully promote, respect, protect and fulfil its obligations under international human rights law. In particular, ensure that its national laws, policies and practices fully comply with Articles 7 and 8 of the CRC, as well as the principle of the best Human Rights Council, Resolution 16/21: Review of the work and functioning of the Human Rights Council, UN Doc. A/HRC/RES/16/21, April 2011, Annex 1, Para 6.