Universal Periodic Review Country Submission for the United Arab Emirates

The Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights and Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion have prepared this submission regarding gender discrimination in the nationality laws of the United Arab Emirates in order to inform the country’s review during the 29^th Session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), 15-26 January 2018.

The United Arab Emirates is one of the twenty-five remaining countries that deny women the right to confer nationality on their children on an equal basis with men. It is also one of roughly fifty countries to deny women the ability to confer nationality on spouses on an equal basis with men.

Gender discrimination in nationality laws result in myriad human rights violations, treat women as second-class citizens, and are a leading cause of statelessness. As global momentum builds for the eradication of gender discrimination in nationality laws, it is critical that United Nations Member States leverage the UPR process to sustain calls for reform.