UNHCR’s Global Action Plan to End Statelessness and improved data collection on the country’s in situ stateless population. In 2015, UNHCR conducted 267 outreach sessions for persons who are stateless or at risk of statelessness, as well as for local authorities, to improve access to procedures related to the acquisition of nationality, civil status documentation and national ID documents. In 2015 and the first half of 2016, approximately 1,500 persons benefited from legal counseling on the acquisition or confirmation of Iraqi citizenship, and 3,320 individuals received counseling on nationality and documentation issues. at birth and to acquire a nationality. All States in MENA have also acceded to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence against Women (CEDAW), Article 9(2) of which recognizes the right of women to confer nationality to their children on an equal basis as men.12 UNHCR is also working with the government to resolve the documentation challenges faced by IDPs and conflictaffected families. In 2014, UNHCR supported Iraq’s Ministry of Migration and Displacement and Ministry of Interior with establishing two new “re-documentation centres” in Baghdad and Najaf to replace civil status documents, passports and birth certificates for internally displaced families who fled conflict areas such as Mosul, Salahaddin, Anbar, Diyala and Kirkuk. Following the displacement from Fallujah in 2016, Iraq’s Nationality Directorate has also commenced the issuance and replacement of identity documents in several locations in the Anbar province. Over 7,000 IDP children have received legal assistance through UNHCR and its partners from 2015 to mid-2016, the majority of whom were helped with acquiring civil status documentation. These principles are reinforced by regional legal instruments, such as the Covenant on the Rights of the Child in Islam,13 which recognizes the right of the child to a name, a nationality and to be registered at birth. The Covenant also calls on States parties to “make every effort to resolve the issue of statelessness for any child born on their territories or to any of their citizens outside their territory”. Similarly, the Arab Charter on Human Rights14 reaffirms that everyone has the right to a nationality and that no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of their nationality, rights originally recognized by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and calls on States to ensure equality between men and women in relation to the array of rights outlined in the Charter. The Right to a Nationality and Legal Identity: International and Regional Standards States in MENA have embraced certain key international principles and standards. The MENA region features universal ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Article 7 of which enshrines the right of all children to acquire a nationality, to have a name and to have their births immediately registered. The region also features widespread accession to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 24 of which reinforces the right of all children to be registered All children have the right to be registered at birth and to acquire a nationality. In addition to working with individual States to support effective implementation of these instruments, UNHCR has also partnered with key regional bodies, including the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the League of Arab States (LAS), to convene regional conferences and dialogues to catalogue urgent issues and needs, such as the vulnerability of unregistered refugee children, and to promote international standards, share good practices and identify solutions. 12 A number of States in MENA maintain reservations to Article 9 of the CEDAW. The Covenant on the Rights of the Child in Islam was adopted by the 32nd Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers in Sana’a, Republic of Yemen, in June 2005. See Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Covenant on the Rights of the Child in Islam, June 2005, OIC/9-IGGE/HRI/2004/ Rep.Final, at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/44eaf0e4a.html. 14 Thirteen States are parties to the Arab Charter on Human Rights, namely Algeria, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen, whereas four States have signed the Charter but not yet ratified it: Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan and Morocco. The protection against arbitrary deprivations of nationality is also enshrined within Articles 5-9 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 13 9