MENA Civil Society Calls for Gender-Equal Nationality Rights

[Click here for the Arabic statement.]

We, the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights and civil society organizations from the Middle East-North Africa and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, welcome the Declaration of the First Conference for Arab States on Good Practices and Regional Opportunities to Strengthen Women’s Nationality Rights (the Conference), which took place October 1-2, 2017 at the Headquarters of the of the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States in Cairo, in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights, with participation by representatives of Member States, parliamentarians and civil society representatives; and with the participation of the General Secretariat of the Arab Interior Ministers Council, the Arab Parliament, the Arab Labor Organization, Arab Women Organization, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The Declaration calls upon all Arab States to uphold equality between citizens and take concrete steps to reform nationality laws that discriminate on the basis of sex, consistent with the mandate for equality enshrined in most national constitutions and international conventions, particularly the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and provides a process going forward to realize nationality rights for women on an equal basis with men.

On September 30 and October 3, 2017, building on the activities of the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights launched in 2014, a workshop was held for civil society organizations concerned with this issue and participating in the Conference, in order to prepare for and evaluate the Conference and its outcomes, review achievements in the region, and prepare for next steps. Participants included civil society leaders from 18 countries in the Middle East-North Africa and GCC region.

Based on these discussions, the civil society participants agree on the following:

We, as citizens, looking forward to living in modern States that respect the principle of equal citizenship for everyone regardless of gender, and:

Affirming the importance of the Conference Statement, in particular, recognizing women and men’s equal nationality rights, without discrimination;

 Affirming that women’s entitlement to equal rights in conferring nationality to her spouse and children on the same basis as men expresses the realization of the principle of equality and contributes to achieving comprehensive and sustainable development;

 Affirming women have equal and non-negotiable rights and that equality in nationality rights is a right provided for in international conventions signed and ratified by the Arab states, regardless of some reservations which should be lifted;

 Emphasizing women’s equal right to confer citizenship, regardless of her marital status or the identity of her spouse/her child’s father, noting in particular the Arab League’s decision that Palestinians’ right to return does not fall under a statute of limitations and is not precluded by the acquisition of another nationality;

 Emphasizing the ability or prohibition of dual nationality by states must be universally applied to all citizens, regardless of gender;

Commending the efforts of some Arab states that have amended their nationality laws[1] to be consistent with the principle of equality and international criteria, and encouraging other Arab states with nationality laws that discriminate on the basis of gender to undertake such reforms;

Encouraging the League of Arab States to study the positive impact of nationality law reforms to uphold gender equality in the region, and their benefit to society;

Welcoming the steps taken by the League of Arab States to raise this important issue and its efforts to facilitate dialogue between concerned civil society organizations and Member States;

 Recognizing the lack of equality between women and men in nationality laws in some Arab states results in these states being among the 52 countries with nationality laws that discriminate on the basis of gender; and among the 25 countries that deny women the right to confer nationality on their children on an equal basis with men;

 Recognizing the lack of equality in nationality laws between women and men can result in family disintegration and violence within family and in society, while also depriving affected persons of access to education, healthcare, employment, inheritance and property rights, civil rights, and freedom of movement;

 Recognizing nationality laws that deny women the right to confer nationality on their children on an equal basis with men negatively impact States and inhibit their national development, due to the consequences of discrimination, including generations of stateless persons created by such laws;

We call for all Arab states to:

1. Enact nationality law reforms to uphold equal nationality rights for women and men without delay, including the equal ability to confer nationality on children and spouses;

2. Ensure that nationality law reforms shall not exclude any person, including on the basis of disability or any other socio-economic status;

3. Remove reservations to CEDAW Article 9;

4. End the current practice of permitting or denying dual nationality based on the gender of the citizen;

5. Intensify efforts for continued coordination with the League of Arab States to put the Conference Statement and its recommendations into effect.

We also call for:

6. Civil society organizations and governments to work with the Global Campaign and its national and regional partners, including organizations that participated in the conference, to realize reforms needed to uphold gender-equal nationality rights.

Signatories:

Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights*

Arab Women Association (Jordan)

L’Association des Femmes Chefs de Famille (Mauritania)

Bahrain Women Union (Bahrain)

Collective for Research and Training on Development-Action (Lebanon)

Equality without Reservation Coalition (Middle East-North Africa Region)

Equality Now (International)

Forum for Women in Development (Egypt)

Jordanian Women’s Union (Jordan)

Kuwait Women Culture Social and Society (Kuwait)

The Lebanese Council to Resist Violence Against Woman (Lebanon)

Mother for Rights and Development (Egypt)

My Nationality is a right for me and my family Campaign (Lebanon)

People’s Legal Aid Centre (Sudan)

Ruwad alHoukou /Frontiers Ruwad (Lebanon)

Sisterhood Is Global Institute/Jordan (Jordan)

Tafawuq Consulting Center for Development (Bahrain)

Wogood Foundation for Human Security (Yemen)

Women’s Learning Partnership (Global)

Women’s Studies Centre (Palestine)

 (Organizations interested to sign this declaration in solidarity, click here or send request to CatherineH(at)wrcommission(dot)org.)

In Solidarity:

Dar Al Kathem for Orphans Care (Jordan)

Health Advisory House (Jordan)

Mizan Group for Human Rights (Jordan)

My Mother is Jordanian and Her Nationality is My Right Campaign (Jordan)

My Nationality Is a Right for My Family Coalition (Jordan)

The Third Millennium Ladies Association (Jordan)

*The Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights consists of a coalition of national, regional and international organizations, activists, and UN partners, including Steering Committee Members Equal Rights Trust, Equality Now, Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Women’s Learning Partnership, and Women’s Refugee Commission.

[1] Since 2003, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Yemen enacted reforms to enshrine women and men’s equal right to confer nationality on their children. Algeria also enacted reforms to uphold citizens’ equal ability to confer nationality on spouses, and Tunisia also enshrined the right of women and men to confer nationality on spouses. For an overview of regional reforms see: http://equalnationalityrights.org/images/zdocs/MENA-Nationality-Rights-Brochure-English.pdf