laws. Accession to the 1961 Convention would be an effective measure to
ensure that all people enjoy their right to belong, and to a legal identity.16
Additionally, though the UN Sustainable Development Goals are not legally
binding, the Arab Declaration on Belonging and Legal Identity underlines the
fact that States have made an undertaking to provide a legal identity for all
by 2030, as per the 2030 agenda. Furthermore, principle 20 of the Guiding
Principles on Internal Displacement specifically calls on States to ensure
conflict-affected and internally displaced women and men have equal access
to civil status documentation to strengthen their protection and enjoyment
of rights to legal identity.17
In terms of regional standards, the 2004 Arab Charter on Human Rights
(hereinafter ArCHR)18 and the 2005 Covenant of the Rights of the Child in Islam
(hereinafter CRCI)19, both adopted by the League of Arab States, are relevant to
the law of nationality in the Arab region. In arriving at their recommendation
to produce a Regional Toolkit on Nationality Legislation, LAS member
States reiterated the conclusions of the Arab Charter on Human Rights
which stipulates that all persons shall have the right to a legal identity and
a life of dignity, and also the Sharjah Principles on the Protection of Refugee
Children, which specifies that all refugee children should be registered and
documented at birth.20 Additionally, the Declaration on Belonging and
Legal Identity drew on the first “Arab Conference on Good Practices and
Regional Opportunities to Strengthen Women’s Nationality Rights”, held in
October 2017, which reaffirms the importance of building on existing efforts
to strengthen women’s nationality rights and gender equality in nationality,
as well as the Regional Expert meeting entitled “Our Children, Our Future:
Belonging and Identity” held in October 2016, which acknowledges rights to
birth registration, nationality and family unity. It also calls for the removal of
gender discrimination in nationality laws across the region, in recognition of
the linkages between the rights of women and children in the Arab region.
8