● ● The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 15. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Article 24(3). 14. The Bahamas is not party to the 1954 Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons or the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 15. Concerning the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), The Bahamas entered a reservation to Article 2 of the Convention which is a guiding principle upon which the Convention is founded and prohibits any form of discrimination in the enjoyment of the rights set down in the CRC. The Bahamas reserved the right not to apply the provisions of Article 2 CRC insofar as those provisions relate to the conferment of citizenship upon a child having regard to the provisions of the State’s Constitution.5 It must be noted though, that the Bahamas has not entered a reservation to CRC Article 7 or ICCPR Article 24(3), which guarantee every child’s right to a nationality. 16. Concerning the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) The Bahamas has also made reservations to this instrument and does not consider itself bound by the provisions of Article 2(a) on gender equality, article 9(2) on equal transmission of nationality to children and Article 29(1) on account of those provisions being incompatible with the Constitution of The Bahamas. These reservations go against the core principles of equality and non-discrimination enshrined in the Convention and fundamentally contravene general obligations to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women which arises under CEDAW Article 2.6 17. On 25 February 2011, the Government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas notified the Secretary-General of its decision to withdraw the reservation in respect to article 16 (1) h) made upon accession to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) which requires gender equality in family relations.7 18. The Bahamas is also a member of the Organization of American States (OAS), and therefore subject to respect the rights and undertake the duties therein and the Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man. At the regional level, The Bahamas has ratified at the Inter American Convention on the Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women or Convention of Bélem do Pará. Concerns raised by UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies 19. The CEDAW Committee, in its concluding observations on 14 November 2018,8 expressed its concern that The Bahamas maintains reservations to article 2 (a), on the general legal obligations of States parties under the Convention, and to article 9 (2), on nationality. It also expressed concern over stateless children and orphans of parents who are stateless or of unknown nationality, who cannot apply the principle of ius sanguinis or that of ius soli to obtain nationality. 20. The CEDAW Committee further expressed concern regarding the lack of information about stateless women and girls and recommended The Bahamas (a) undertake specific measures aimed at raising awareness among politicians and the general public of the need to amend the Constitution in order to repeal provisions that discriminate against women in matters of 5 https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-11&chapter=4&clang=_en https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-8&chapter=4&clang=_en 7 https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-8&chapter=4&clang=_en 8 See: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CEDAW%2fC%2fBHS%2fCO%2f6&Lang=en 6