On 13 June 2023, leaders from governments, civil society and United Nations agencies convened in Geneva at a Global Summit on Gender Equality in Nationality Laws, calling for expedited action to end gender-based discrimination in nationality laws that deny people the equal right to acquire and confer nationality on their children and spouses.
While in many contexts across the world, women were historically denied the right to confer nationality to their children on an equal basis with men, multiple countries have reformed their nationality laws over the past few decades. Despite this progress, twenty-four countries still retain nationality laws that deny women the right to pass their citizenship to their children while almost fifty countries prevent them from conferring nationality on their spouse on an equal basis with men.
At their core, gender-discriminatory nationality laws undermine women’s status as equal citizens and their equality in the family, and are also a root cause of statelessness. At today’s Global Summit, leading affected activists and UN agencies also drew attention to resulting wide-ranging human rights violations caused by this discrimination, harming affected women, their families, and societies as a whole.
Distributing the first edition of Munasara Magazine at the Global Summit was a crucial step in bringing the issues of gender discrimination in nationality laws in Arab countries into sharper focus.
The magazine served not only as a source of valuable information on the state of the issue and the progress made, but also as a testament to the tireless activism of communities impacted by these discriminatory laws. By highlighting the advocacy work of both local and regional campaigns, the magazine amplified the voices of those directly and indirectly affected.
By distributing Munasara Magazine at the Global Summit, Muwatin sought to reach and influence decision-makers, encouraging them to champion the cause of equal citizenship for women. It served as a call to action, urging policymakers to join us in the fight against gender discrimination in nationality laws, and to take bold steps towards achieving full and equal citizenship for all.
Speakers at the Summit included:
Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Phila Buthelezi, Minister of Labour & Social Security, Eswatini
Williametta E. Saydee-Tarr, Minister of Gender, Children & Social Protection, Liberia
Bathsheba N. Crocker, Permanent Representative of the United States of America
Jeff Roach, Deputy Permanent Representative of Australia
Febrian Ruddyard, Permanent Representative of Indonesia
Amina Bouayach, President of the National Human Right Institution Morocco
Nashat Ibraheem Shallal Al-Khafaji, Ministry of Interior, Iraq
Maryanne Namakin, Secretary of the Ministry of Women, Youth and Social Affairs, Kiribati
Habiba Al-Hinai, Omani Association for Human Rights
Neha Gurung, Citizenship Affected Persons Network, Nepal
Catherine Harrington, Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights
Adriana Quiñones, UN Women Head, Human Rights and Development, Geneva
Marc Rubin, UNICEF Deputy Regional Director, Middle East and North Africa
Gaithiri Siva, Impacted Mothers Network, Family Frontiers
