20. The Constitution of Madagascar enshrines the precedence of international treaties over domestic legislation: “Duly ratified treaties or agreements shall, as soon as they have been published, take precedence over laws (…)” In its 2014 UPR State Report, the government further clarified: “in case of conflict between domestic law and the provisions of an international instrument, the latter take precedence.” Accordingly, Madagascar’s treaty obligations have the effect of national law, with no enabling legislation being required to be passed. 21. The human rights instruments to which Madagascar has acceded – CEDAW, CRC, ICCPR, CRPD and CERD – provide for the right to a nationality and equal nationality rights between women and men. 22. In its last CEDAW review in November 2015, the CEDAW Committee reiterated its concern that the nationality law continued to deny women equal rights with men and issued the following recommendation: “Amend its nationality law to enable Malagasy women to transmit their nationality to their foreign or stateless spouse and to their children on an equal basis with men, in accordance with article 9 of the Convention (see also CEDAW/C/MDG/CO/5, para. 25)”14 23. Furthermore, as a member State of the African Union, Madagascar is a signatory to the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol), which calls on State Parties to “combat all forms of discrimination against women through appropriate legislative, institutional and other measures”, including through enactment of “corrective and positive action in those areas where discrimination against women in law and in fact continues to exist.”15 24. While the government’s effort to enact reforms to uphold women’s right to confer nationality on children on equal basis with men is an important step in eliminating discrimination against women, the persistence of gender discrimination in loi n°2016-038 results in violations of Madagascar’s obligations under international law and its own Constitution to uphold equality before the law and nondiscrimination on the basis of sex. Gender Discrimination in Madagascar’s Nationality Law 25. According to loi n°2016-038, Malagasy men have the right to confer nationality on a non-national spouse (foreign or stateless) upon marriage, if the spouse declares their desire to acquire Madagascan nationality. Malagasy women are denied this same right to confer nationality on a foreign or stateless spouse. 26. While Madagascar’s obligations under international law, including CEDAW and the ICCPR, and its Constitutional mandate to uphold non-discrimination on the basis of sex and the primacy of international treaties, should take precedence, in practice, Malagasy women are the denied the right to confer nationality on spouses on an equal basis with Malagasy men. 27. In light of recent efforts to reform the law to eradicate gender discrimination with regard to conferral of nationality to children, it is timely for Madagascar to review and amend its nationality law to make it fully compliant with international, regional, and national standards. 14 CEDAW/C/MDG/CO/6-7 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, available at http://www.achpr.org/instruments/women-protocol/ 15 4