Box 2. Definitions: Foundational and functional ID systems There are two broad categories of ID systems: Foundational identification systems are created with the objective of providing general legal identification which may serve as the basis for a wide variety of purposes. Common examples include population registries and national ID cards. Functional identification systems are created in response to a demand for a particular service or transaction such as voter IDs or tax IDs. These do not normally bestow legal identity. Foundational and functional ID systems may be paper based or digital and may coexist within the same country. Sources: World Bank 2018f. This paper is divided into two sections. The first section identifies the current legal and regulatory barriers affecting women’s access to IDs, passports, and birth registration and certification. It then turns to the impact of gender-discriminatory nationality laws on the risk of statelessness for women and their children and spouses. The second section explores recent initiatives and strategies that have been adopted to remove gender-based legal differences in access to national IDs, passports, and birth certificates as well as from nationality laws. Notes 1 Birth registration is the official recording in the civil registry of the occurrence and characteristics of births, in accordance with the legal requirements of a country. A birth certificate is a vital certified record that documents the birth of a child and constitutes proof of registration (UNICEF 2013). 2 The principle of dependent nationality was applied in most states at the beginning of the twentieth century and required that a woman who married a foreigner automatically acquired the nationality of her husband upon marriage, based on the view that nationality would entail loyalty to one state only. This was normally accompanied by the loss of her own nationality. United Nations, Convention on the Nationality of Married Women: Historical Background and Commentary (United Nations doc. E/CN.6/389), Sales No. 62.IV.3, p.2 (1962). I. Introduction 3