A/HRC/40/71 76. States should provide necessary civil registration documentation, such as birth certificates, legal identity documents and passports, to minorities and facilitate their naturalization process. States should refrain from imposing arbitrary barriers and procedural requirements for naturalization or issuance of civic documentation that may put people at risk of statelessness. 77. States should protect the rights of lawyers and human rights defenders working to ensure the right to a nationality of minorities, and adequately investigate and provide redress in cases of reprisals or intimidation against them. International engagement and cooperation 78. States are encouraged to establish an international mechanism/mandate for ensuring the right to a nationality, which will also be mandated to pay particular attention to the implementation of the rights of persons belonging to minorities. 79. States are urged to share best practices and deliver pledges in relevant international forums to take steps to end statelessness through law and policy reform, accession to treaties and other key steps, with particular reference to the promotion and protection of the rights of persons belonging to minorities, including at the World Conference on Statelessness and Inclusion to be held in June 2019 and the UNHCR high-level event on statelessness to be held in October 2019. 80. States, in cooperation with the United Nations, civil society organizations and other stakeholders, should make efforts to identify stateless minorities and adopt comprehensive legal, administrative and policy measures to ensure their right to a nationality. States are encouraged to draw on the technical expertise of the United Nations and civil society on statelessness, the right to a nationality and the rights of persons belonging to minorities when developing such laws and policies. 81. States should revise and reform their existing citizenship/nationality laws in consultation with United Nations bodies and agencies, civil society organizations and representatives of minorities to make sure that the nationality rights of everyone are protected, especially for the minorities at risk of statelessness. 82. Where States fail to comply with their international human rights obligations, minorities and civil society organizations are encouraged to use national judicial and administrative bodies to remedy the situation, as well as, if necessary, regional and international bodies. VI. Recommendations on addressing statelessness affecting minority women and children and advancing gender equality in nationality laws A. Discussion 83. The panel was moderated by Anastasia Crickley (Ireland), Vice-President of the International Association for Community Development and former Chair of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Presentations were made by Benyam Dawit Mezmur (Ethiopia), member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child; Noro Ravaozanany (Madagascar), President of the Focus Development Association; and Nina Murray (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), Head of Policy and Research at the European Network on Statelessness. 84. The panellists commended women from minority communities for their courage and commitment in addressing many human rights issues affecting minorities, including statelessness. They noted that although statelessness is a minority issue, it is also a child’s rights issue, as statelessness can have a lifelong negative – and intergenerational – impact on children. The violation of the right of the child to a nationality often starts before a child is even born. 11