11 Nov. 2021

Webinar: UN Advocacy for Gender-Equal Nationality Rights

Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights

Date: Thursday, November 11, 2021

Time: 8:30-10:00 EST / 14:30-16:00 CET / 16:30-18:00 AST/ 21:30-23:00 MST

Arabic-English-lSL-lnterpretation

More information can be found here.

Click here for registration.


Twenty-five countries* have nationality laws that deny women the right to pass citizenship to their children on an equal basis with men. Approximately fifty countries** have laws that deny women the right to confer nationality on their spouse on an equal basis with men. While undermining women and men’s equality, such laws result in wide-ranging violations of international human rights law and commitments made by governments through UN agreements. National-level advocacy and domestic pressure on policymakers is essential to achieving nationality law reforms to uphold gender equality. At the same time, United Nations human rights mechanisms and related bodies provide important entry points to initiate, complement and bolster national advocacy. As members of the UN, States have obligations to uphold international human rights law, including rights outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and based on their ratification of the nine core human rights treaties. States have also committed themselves to global agreements and standards, such as the Sustainable Development Goals, which are relevant to the elimination of gender discrimination in nationality laws. Especially given the many challenges associated with advocacy for gender-equal nationality rights, campaigns for reform benefit from taking a multi-pronged approach that includes strategic UN-related advocacy.

On November 11, experts from multiple regions will share learnings from their experiences leveraging UN-related advocacy for gender-equal nationality rights in a webinar organized by the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights and cosponsored by Collective for Research and Training on Development-Action, Equality Bahamas, Family Frontiers, Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, « My Nationality is a Right for Me and My Family » Campaign, Nationality For All, and Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung Geneva Office.

Speakers:

Karima Chebbo, Collect1ve for Research and Training on Development Action
Amal de Chickera, Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion
Subin Mulmi, Nationality for All
Bina Ramanand, Family Frontiers
Mirna Sabbagh, Lebanese mother denied the right to pass her citizenship
Melinda Anne Sharlini, Family Frontiers
Alicia Wallace, Equality Bahamas

Speaker bios on event registration page.

*Countries with nationality laws that deny women the right to confer nationality on their children on an equal basis with men:
The Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Brunei, Burundi, Eswatini, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Nepal, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Togo, United Arab Emirates

**Countries with nationality laws that deny women the right to confer nationality on their spouse on an equal basis with men:
The Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Brunei Darussalam, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, Egypt, Eswatini, Guatemala, Guinea, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mauritania, Morocco, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Tanzania and Yemen.