4. Anti-Slavery International, founded in 1839, works to eliminate all forms of slavery around the world. Slavery, servitude and forced labour violate individual freedoms and deprive millions of people of their dignity and fundamental rights. Anti-Slavery International is taking action around the world locally, nationally and internationally to end slavery. Anti-Slavery International has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). 3 5. Minority Rights Group International is a non-governmental organisation that has worked for over 50 years to guarantee the rights of ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities around the world and to promote cooperation and understanding between communities. MRG has ECOSOC consultative status and Observer Status with the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights.4 6. The Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights mobilises international action for the removal of gender-discriminatory provisions from all nationality laws, through its coalition of national, regional and international organisations and activists, including steering committee members Equality Now, Equal Rights Trust, the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, and Women’s Refugee Commission.5 7. The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion is an independent non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting an integrated, human rights-based response to the injustice of statelessness and exclusion. Established in August 2014, it is the first and only global centre committed to promoting the human rights of stateless persons and ending statelessness. The Institute has made nearly 70 country-specific UPR submissions on the human rights of stateless persons, and also compiled summaries of the key human rights challenges related to statelessness in all countries under review under the 23rd to the 36th UPR Sessions.6 8. This submission focuses on I. Gender discrimination in the nationality law of Mauritania; II. The child’s right to nationality, birth registration practices and the risk of statelessness; III. The denial of the right to a nationality and resultant statelessness and human rights challenges faced by affected persons, in particular the Haratines and black Mauritanians; IV. The right to education of stateless children Previous UPR of Mauritania under the First and Second Cycle 9. Mauritania was previously reviewed during the 9th and 23rd sessions of the UPR, in 2010 and 2015 respectively. During the first cycle, Mauritania received a recommendation to amend its Nationality Code to remove all gender-discriminatory provisions (Israel), which the government noted. Mauritania also received recommendations to address gender discrimination in laws pertaining to the family, which the state noted. Nine states made recommendations calling on Mauritania to take steps to advance gender equality, with several calling on the state to harmonize its laws with CEDAW and other international obligations.7 These recommendations were accepted by Mauritania. Mauritania also noted Israel’s recommendation to seek technical assistance from UN agencies with regard to birth registration and other areas. 3 For more information, please visit: https://www.antislavery.org/what-we-do/mauritania/ For more information, please visit: https://minorityrights.org/ 5 For more information, please visit: https://equalnationalityrights.org/ 6 For more information, please visit: https://www.institutesi.org/ 7 Recommendations made by Bahrain, Bangladesh, Chile, Egypt, France, Libya, Norway, Sudan, Slovenia, and Turkey. 4 2