WUNRN
Twenty-seven
countries worldwide continue to discriminate against women in their
ability to confer their nationality on their children on an equal basis with
men. Gender discrimination in nationality laws contravenes Article 9(2) of the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW) and can lead to statelessness when fathers are stateless or also unable
to confer their nationality on their children. In addition, over 60 countries
deny women equal rights with men to acquire, change or retain their
nationality, including the ability of women to confer nationality on their
non-national spouses. Such provisions contravene Article 9(1) of CEDAW.
Women’s inability to pass on
their citizenship to their children and spouses puts huge financial,
psychological and physical strains on families, often resulting in an
intergenerational spiral of destitution and depression.
Statelessness resulting from
gender discrimination in nationality laws can have serious and far reaching
consequences, often leading to violations of fundamental human rights.
Stateless people face many barriers and obstacles: without citizenship or
identity documents they may be unable to own or rent property, secure formal
employment or access services such as public health care, education and social
welfare benefits. Statelessness impacts individuals' ability to marry and
couples' decisions to start a family.
Equality Now, the Equal Rights
Trust, Tilburg University Statelessness Programme, UNHCR, UN Women and the
Women’s Refugee Commission have formed a steering committee to lead the
International Campaign to End Gender Discrimination in Nationality Laws. Organizations
and agencies are invited to join the Campaign Coalition.
The campaign aims to eliminate
gender discrimination in nationality laws.
Build a Coalition: The
Campaign will build a wider coalition of interested stakeholders, including UN
agencies, international, regional and local NGOs, academics and civil society
partners.
National Advocacy Strategy: In
consultation with regional, national and local organizations, the Campaign will
develop national advocacy strategies for law reform in target countries. The
Campaign will reach out to local, national and regional NGOs, human rights and
women’s rights civil society organizations, national human rights commissions
and other government and nongovernmental entities in countries that maintain
discrimination to identify potential entry points for promoting change.
Global Advocacy Strategy: The
Campaign will develop a global advocacy strategy which will support
national-level advocacy. This will include advocacy targeted at key government
missions at the UN and national governments, providing information to relevant
UN Treaty Body and special mechanisms, and mobilizing additional UN and civil
society actors. For example, members of the Campaign have written to the Minister
of Justice in each country to highlight the issue and the need for reform.
In addition, the Campaign is being launched at the Human Rights Council
in June 2014, which many governments will be attending. Equality Now, with the
support of the Women's Refugee Commission, has submitted a statement to the
26th session of the Human Rights Council, Ending
sex discrimination in citizenship and nationality laws.
Pledges at Beijing +20 Review:
Under the Beijing Platform of Action – the outcome of the 1995 Beijing
Women’s Conference – governments pledged to remove gender discrimination from
all their laws with a target date of 2005 set for achievement of this goal. The
Beijing +20 review will take place during the 59th session of the Commission on
the Status of Women (CSW) in March 2015. Through joint coalition letter-writing
and targeted advocacy, the Campaign will continue to encourage relevant
governments to reform discriminatory nationality laws by making time-bound
pledges leading to and during the Beijing + 20 review event. States which
have recently reformed their laws can also play a supportive role, encouraging
other governments to follow suit. Implementation of these pledges will form the
on-going work of the Campaign in 2015 and beyond.
Technical Assistance to Local
Partners: Training, technical assistance and advocacy support will be provided
to local civil society organizations such as women’s groups and human rights
organizations to support their efforts at promoting reform in nationality laws.
Grassroots mobilization is deemed vital in securing changes in nationality laws
that still discriminate on the basis of gender.
Identify “champion” countries
and “ambassadors”: Identify countries that have recently reformed their nationality
laws to remove gender discrimination who could be “champions” in their region
and/or internationally and encourage other countries to follow suit. Identify
high-profile individuals who could serve as “ambassadors” for the cause of
removing gender discrimination from nationality laws.
The International
Campaign was launched in
Background Note on Gender Equality, Nationality Laws and
Statelessness 2014
UNHCR, 2014
Campaign to End Sex Discrimination in Nationality and
Citizenship Laws, Equality Now, 2013
(available in English, French,
Spanish and Arabic - 2014 updated report forthcoming)
Women’s Refugee Commission and
UNHCR, March 2014
January 2012
No Nationality, No Future (English)
Our Mother's Country, Our Country (English)
No Nationality, No Future (Arabic)
Our Mother's Country, Our Country (Arabic)