The Right to a Nationality Women and Children

Calls upon all States to adopt and implement nationality legislation consistent with their obligations under international law with a view to prevent and reduce statelessness among women and children;

Encourages States to facilitate, in accordance with their national law, the acquisition of nationality by children born on their territories or to their nationals abroad who would otherwise be stateless;

Urges all States to refrain from enacting or maintaining discriminatory nationality legislation, with a view to avoid statelessness, in particular among women and children;

Urges States to reform nationality laws that discriminate against women by granting equal rights to men and women to confer nationality to their children and regarding the acquisition, change or retention of their nationality;

Also urges States to grant nationality to foundlings found in their territory in the absence of proof that the foundling is not a national of the State where found;

Calls upon States to ensure free birth registration, including free or low-fee late birth registration, for every child, and underscores the importance of effective birth registration and provision of documentary proof of birth irrespective of his or her immigration status and that of his or her parents or family members, which can contribute to reducing statelessness, as well as reducing vulnerability to trafficking in persons and other abuses and violations of their human rights;

Urges all States to ensure that their international obligations and procedural safeguards are observed in all decisions concerning the acquisition, deprivation, loss or change of nationality, including availability of effective and timely judicial review;

Calls upon States to ensure that effective and appropriate remedies are available to all persons, in particular women and children, whose right to a nationality has been violated, including restoration of nationality and expedient provision of documentary proof of nationality by the State responsible for the violation;

Encourages relevant special procedures of the Human Rights Council, including the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice, as well as specialized agencies, including the United Nations Children’s Fund and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, and invites treaty bodies, in coordination with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to address and highlight issues relating to the right to nationality and statelessness among women and children, within their mandates;

Encourages States to consider acceding to the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness if they have not already done so;

Calls upon States to implement their international legal obligations to combat human trafficking, including the identification of potential victims of trafficking and the provision of appropriate assistance to stateless persons who may be victims of trafficking, paying particular attention to trafficking in women and children;

Calls upon all States to ensure that all persons, in particular women and children, regardless of their nationality status, enjoy their human rights and fundamental freedoms;

Requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare, in consultation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice, States and other relevant stakeholders, a report on discrimination against women in nationality-related matters, including the impact on children, under national and international law, including best practices by States and other measures that eliminate nationality discrimination against women and avoid or reduce statelessness before the twenty-third session of the Human Rights Council.