implications are further exacerbated. These persons are usually daily workers and have no fixed salaries. 54. Even though Frontiers Rights (Ruwad Al Houkouk) and the UNHCR are not aware of any positive case of a stateless individual who was tested positive to COVID-19, the risk of spreading the virus in the community remains high. The type of support and prevention needed by this marginalised community is high and remains unaddressed to this day. There is no information on whether stateless persons would actually have access testing and free treatment, that they are legally entitled to. Further, stateless persons have no full information about their rights. 55. The State’s response in the Education sector consists of shifting to online platforms – which require access to Internet for the children. As part of the action plan, the government will provide a stipend of approximately 200$ for the children enrolled in the public schools – however, this includes only children of Lebanese nationality excluding Syrian refugees and stateless individuals. 56. Many UN agencies, local and international NGOs provide additional support to local actors and the most vulnerable in different modalities (such as providing hygiene kits, food parcels, vouchers exchangeable for food, etc.). However, most of these stakeholders excluded stateless individuals and focus on other marginalised communities (vulnerable Lebanese, Syrian refugees, Palestinian refugees, etc.). Some local actors and municipalities also provided hygiene kits and food items to the local population. Stateless persons did not benefit from these since they are not aware whether they have the right to these relief packages, and some municipalities excluded nonLebanese from benefitting from such relief measures. Recommendations 57. Based on the above information, the co-submitting organisations urge reviewing States to make the following recommendations to Lebanon: a. Repeal gender-discriminatory nationality laws and policies. In particular, amend the Nationality Law to uphold women and men’s equal right to confer nationality on children and spouses. b. Withdraw all reservations to CEDAW, particularly in relation to the right to a nationality (Article 9) and equality within the family (Article 16). c. Amend Articles 505 and 519 and repeal Article 518 of the Penal Code to uphold the right of girls to equal protection of the law and to remove the exemption of rapists and perpetrators of gender-based violence from punishment upon marriage. d. Comprehensively amend or enact a unified personal status law that would guarantee equality between men and women. e. Enact a legal framework on the prevention of statelessness which ensures that all children who are stateless or at risk of statelessness are granted nationality without discrimination against the child, their parents or guardians. f. Develop and introduce a legislative statelessness determination procedure, ensuring that the procedure is fair, effective and accessible to all persons in Lebanon regardless of their legal status. The procedure should comply with international standards of due process and follow the procedural safeguards outlined in UNHCR’s Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons. Simplify the birth registration procedure and ensure easily accessible universal birth registration without discrimination, as a tool for protecting the right to a nationality and preventing statelessness. 12