11th Session, Geneva, 29 and 30 November 2018  Ensuring the right to a nationality for persons belonging to minorities through facilitation of birth registration, naturalization and citizenship for stateless minorities The right to a nationality is a fundamental human right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Complex or onerous documentary and other requirements for proving one’s citizenship, barriers to birth registration, as well as laws, policies and practices that arbitrarily deny or deprive persons of their nationality can all contribute to the vulnerability of minorities to statelessness. Minorities may also face challenges in obtaining or demonstrating citizenship when they live in isolated border areas or have a nomadic lifestyle. It is essential to explore more effective and adapted ways to ensure access to documentation needed to prove nationality or entitlement to nationality for all without discrimination. Facilitation of birth registration, naturalization, confirmation or acquisition of citizenship, including for nomadic and other non-traditional minorities is another crucial element in addressing the vast overrepresentation of persons belonging to minorities amongst the stateless. It is also important to identify good examples and effective measures to eliminate laws and practices that arbitrarily deny or deprive persons of their nationality on the basis of discriminatory grounds such as race, ethnicity, religion, or language. Preventing and combating statelessness should also encompass development aspect in addition to humanitarian assistance. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and in particular its Target 16.9, aiming to achieve "legal identity for all, including birth registration" can be a useful framework in this regard.  Minority women and children affected by statelessness: advancing gender equality in nationality laws Minority women and children are often disproportionately affected by statelessness. It is thus also important to examine gender equality in law such as citizenship laws and their impact on preventing or eliminating statelessness of persons belonging to minorities. Gender inequality, such as for example discriminatory laws prohibiting women from conferring nationality on their children does have a negative impact on the enjoyment of the child’s right to acquire a nationality, and therefore contributes to statelessness. Statelessness often hinders access to the full range of human rights, preventing children from accessing primary education or healthcare services, and women from accessing sexual and reproductive health and rights. Statelessness may also place women and children at a heightened risk of exploitation and violence because they have difficulty proving who they are or any links to a country of origin or residence. 4