A/HRC/40/71 85. It was pointed out that in some countries women are still not able to confer their nationality upon their children, which further aggravates the situation and in some instances increases cases of statelessness. The necessity of advancing gender equality in nationality laws was therefore emphasized. That should take place by first recognizing that provisions in nationality laws that directly discriminate against women are one of the main causes of statelessness and that it is necessary to eliminate them. It was recalled that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women explicitly requires States to grant equal nationality rights to women and men and that article 7 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child reaffirms the child’s right to a nationality. 86. Nevertheless, it was necessary to take the debate beyond explicit legal discrimination to understand the subtler forms of indirect discrimination in the way seemingly neutral laws were implemented in practice. Panellists stressed the multiple and intersecting disadvantages faced by stateless minority women and children. They highlighted the importance of having disaggregated data on statelessness based on age and gender. 87. Participants also emphasized that stateless minority children were specifically affected by marginalization and faced education barriers, especially those who did not speak the official language of the country. Stateless children also faced marginalization and difficulties in accessing basic human rights due to their status as children and statelessness. Participants stressed the importance of immediate naturalization of children born to stateless parents. B. Recommendations Addressing statelessness affecting children 88. States should register all children and issue birth certificates immediately after birth. States should grant nationality to all children born on their territory if the child would otherwise be stateless, regardless of the immigration status of the parents. 89. States should ensure that stateless children facing language barriers can access education without discrimination. 90. States should ensure full compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in particular its article 7, and remove all reservations to it. 91. States should ensure that stateless children with disabilities enjoy the same rights to birth registration, naturalization and citizenship as all other children. 92. States should collect disaggregated data on stateless children with the aim of ending their statelessness as well as prevent any abuse or exploitation of stateless children because of their statelessness and exaggerated vulnerability. Addressing statelessness through promoting gender equality 93. States should ratify or accede to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and remove any reservations to it, in particular its article 9. States should ensure that women enjoy equal rights with men to acquire, change or retain their nationality as well as equal rights with men with respect to conferring their nationality upon their children. 94. States should combat discrimination against women in practice, with particular emphasis on and steps addressing the aggravating effect of such discrimination for stateless minority women and their right to a nationality. 95. States should also recognize and effectively address the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination faced by stateless minority women in accessing human rights, in particular in accessing sexual and reproductive health and rights, as well as access to a remedy in case of violence and abuse. 12