The Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights

Last updated
The Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights
Formation2014
TypeNGO
PurposeGender Equality; Nationality Rights; activism
HeadquartersNew York
Campaign Manager
Catherine Harrington
Website equalnationalityrights.org

The Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights is a campaign mobilizes international action to end gender discrimination in nationality laws through local and international advocacy, activism, research, capacity building and knowledge sharing. [1]

Contents

The Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights works on amending nationality laws in the 50+ countries that prevent women from conferring their nationality to non-national spouses; and to reform nationality laws in the 25 countries which deny mothers their right to confer their nationality to their children, on equal basis with fathers. [2]

Background and history

Prior to the launch of the campaign in 2014, efforts to remove gender discrimination laws were only recently undertaken at a national level. [3]

Founding Steering Committee and Coalition members

The Campaign's Founding Steering Committee include: the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, Equal Rights Trust, UNHCR, Equality Now, [4] Women’s Refugee Commission and Women's Learning Partnership. [5] The Global Campaign Coalition members include NGOs, UN agencies, [6] activists, academics, civil society organizations and government allies. [7]

The Campaign is housed in New York by the Women's Refugee Commission. [8]

Campaign Activities

The Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights' core activities include local and international advocacy, capacity building and research and knowledge sharing. It collaborates with local and regional organizations to advocate for nationality law reform in target countries. [9] The Campaign also mobilizes international actors, including UN actors, to take action to end gender discrimination in nationality laws. [10]

Related Research Articles

Nationality is a legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the person as a subject, a national, of a sovereign state. It affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of the state against other states.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to a third country. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with over 18,879 staff working in 138 countries.

Jus sanguinis is a principle of nationality law by which citizenship is determined or acquired by the nationality or ethnicity of one or both parents. Children at birth may be citizens of a particular state if either or both of their parents have citizenship of that state. It may also apply to national identities of ethnic, cultural, or other origins. Citizenship can also apply to children whose parents belong to a diaspora and were not themselves citizens of the state conferring citizenship. This principle contrasts with jus soli, which is solely based on the place of birth.

In international law, a stateless person is someone who is "not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law". Some stateless people are also refugees. However, not all refugees are stateless, and many people who are stateless have never crossed an international border. On November 12, 2018, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees stated there are about 12 million stateless people in the world.

Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing different behaviors, aspirations and needs equally, regardless of gender.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women</span> International bill of rights for women

The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly. Described as an international bill of rights for women, it was instituted on 3 September 1981 and has been ratified by 189 states. Over fifty countries that have ratified the Convention have done so subject to certain declarations, reservations, and objections, including 38 countries who rejected the enforcement article 29, which addresses means of settlement for disputes concerning the interpretation or application of the convention. Australia's declaration noted the limitations on central government power resulting from its federal constitutional system. The United States and Palau have signed, but not ratified the treaty. The Holy See, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, and Tonga are not signatories to CEDAW.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbadian nationality law</span> History and regulations of Barbadian citizenship

Barbadian nationality law is regulated by 1966 Constitution of Barbados, as amended; the Barbados Citizenship Act, as amended; and various British Nationality laws. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of Barbados. Barbadian nationality is typically obtained under the rules of jus sanguinis, i.e. by birth to a father or in some cases, a mother, with Barbadian nationality. It can also be granted to persons with an affiliation to the country, or to a permanent resident who has lived in the country for a given period of time through naturalisation. There is currently no program in Barbados for citizenship by investment, though they do have a special work visa program. Nationality establishes one's international identity as a member of a sovereign nation. Though it is not synonymous with citizenship, rights granted under domestic law for domestic purposes, the United Kingdom, and thus the Commonwealth, has traditionally used the words interchangeably.

Equality Now is a non-governmental organization founded in 1992 to advocate for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women and girls. Through a combination of regional partnerships, community mobilization and legal advocacy the organization works to encourage governments to adopt, improve and enforce laws that protect and promote women and girls' rights around the world.

Human rights in Kuwait are a topic of significant concern. Most notably, Kuwait's handling of the stateless Bedoon crisis has come under substantial criticism from international human rights organisations and the United Nations. Kuwait has the largest number of stateless people in the entire region. Kuwait also faces significant criticism for the human rights violations against foreign nationals, women, and LGBT people. Although Kuwaiti law theoretically pledges to protect all human rights; the enforcement mechanisms designed to help protect human rights are very limited in Kuwait.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness</span> 1961 United Nations multilateral treaty

The Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness is a 1961 United Nations multilateral treaty whereby sovereign states agree to reduce the incidence of statelessness. The Convention was originally intended as a Protocol to the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, while the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons was adopted to cover stateless persons who are not refugees and therefore not within the scope of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in Lebanon</span>

The roles of women in Lebanon have evolved throughout history. The legal status of women improved over the 20th century, but patriarchal norms and conservative versions of Islamic law still limit women's rights in Lebanon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Liechtenstein</span>

Liechtenstein, a multiparty constitutional monarchy with a unicameral parliament and a government chosen by the reigning prince at its direction, is a prosperous and free country that is generally considered to have an excellent human-rights record.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights at the United Nations</span>

Discussions of LGBT rights at the United Nations have included resolutions and joint statements in the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), attention to the expert-led human rights mechanisms, as well as by the UN Agencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Algerian nationality law</span> History and regulation of Algerian citizenship

Algerian nationality law is regulated by the Constitution of Algeria, as amended; the Algerian Nationality Code, and its revisions; and various international agreements to which the country is a signatory. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of Algeria. The legal means to acquire nationality, formal legal membership in a nation, differ from the domestic relationship of rights and obligations between a national and the nation, known as citizenship. Algerian nationality is typically obtained under the principle of jus sanguinis, i.e. by birth in Algeria or abroad to parents with Algerian nationality. It can be granted to persons with an affiliation to the country, or to a permanent resident who has lived in the country for a given period of time through naturalisation.

LGBT migration is the movement of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBT) people around the world and domestically, often to escape discrimination or ill treatment due to their sexuality. Globally, many LGBT people attempt to leave discriminatory regions in search of more tolerant ones.

Eliana Rubashkyn is a New Zealand pharmacist and chemist, known for being the first intersex person assigned male at birth legally recognised as a woman with a UN mechanism under the international refugee statute. Born in Colombia, Rubashkyn was formerly stateless. She currently works as a programme officer at ILGA world, and as a harm reduction scientist developing human right campaigns of support addressed to LGBTI asylum seekers, refugees and intersex persons around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Somaliland nationality law</span> Laws governing Somaliland nationality and citizenship

Somaliland a self-declared independent country in the Horn of Africa in which inhabitants were initially governed by various kinship networks. Upon contact with Europeans, treaties were signed in the area to secure rights to trade in the territory in exchange for protection of clans from rivals. Britain formally extended a protectorate over British Somaliland in 1898. Inhabitants of Somaliland were British Protected Persons from that date until they gained their independence in 1960 and joined in the union of their state with Italian Somaliland to form the Somali Republic. Inhabitants derive their nationality from Somali law. The legal means to acquire nationality, formal legal membership in a sovereign nation, differ from the domestic relationship of rights and obligations between a citizen within its nation, known as citizenship. Nationality describes the relationship of an individual to the nation under international law, whereas citizenship is the domestic relationship of an individual within the state. As the African Union, United Nations, and no independent nation has recognized its national sovereignty, Somaliland's inhabitants are Somali nationals, but since declaring its independence in 1991, it has de facto authority to control internal affairs and citizenship within its territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Suriname</span>

Human rights in Suriname are currently recognised under the Constitution of the Republic of Suriname of 1987. Suriname is a constitutional democracy with a president elected by the unicameral National Assembly. The National Assembly underwent elections in 2020, electing Chan Santokhi as president. The National Assembly has a commission pertaining to issues regarding the country's human rights. The Human Rights Office of the Ministry of Justice and Police is responsible for advising the government on regional and international proceedings against the state concerning human rights. Human rights in Suriname is periodically reviewed by the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC), on which it is often believed the level of human rights do not yet meet international standards.

A stateless person is, according to article 1 of the New York Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons of 28 September 1954, "any person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Togolese nationality law</span>

Togolese nationality law is regulated by the Constitution of Togo, as amended; the Togolese Nationality Code, and its revisions; the Code of Persons and Family; the Children's Code; and various international agreements to which the country is a signatory. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of Togo. The legal means to acquire nationality, formal legal membership in a nation, differ from the domestic relationship of rights and obligations between a national and the nation, known as citizenship. Nationality describes the relationship of an individual to the state under international law, whereas citizenship is the domestic relationship of an individual within the nation. Togolese nationality is typically obtained under the principal of jus sanguinis, i.e. by birth in Togo or abroad to parents with Togolese nationality. It can be granted to persons with an affiliation to the country, or to a permanent resident who has lived in the country for a given period of time through naturalization.

References

  1. "Women's nationality is focus of new campaign for gender equality". the Guardian. 2014-06-20. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  2. Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Time for all nationality laws to uphold women and men's equality, says UN and civil society leaders". UNHCR. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  3. Brennan, Deirdre (2020-06-29). "Feminist Foresight in Statelessness". The Statelessness and Citizenship Review. 2 (1): 43–63–43–63. doi: 10.35715/SCR2001.114 . S2CID   225768841.
  4. "Campaigning for equal citizenship rights for women in the Middle East and North Africa – Equality Now" . Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  5. "Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights". Namati. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  6. "UN agencies, together with the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights, call for reform of nationality laws that discriminate on the basis of gender". UN Women. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  7. "Urgent action needed to reform gender discriminatory nationality laws causing childhood statelessness". UNHCR.
  8. "Nationality Rights". Women's Refugee Commission. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  9. Batha, Emma (9 September 2021). "Malaysian mothers win lawsuit in 'sexist' citizenship case". Thomson Reuters Foundation . Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  10. "Breaking with some Mideast neighbors, Iran now lets mothers give their citizenship to their children". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2021-11-22.