London, 11 March 2015

The Equal Rights Trust’s Dimitrina Petrova will address leading scholars and activists on how to achieve gender equality in nationality laws during a parallel event of the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)'s annual meeting this week.

In 2015, 27 countries retain laws which prevent women from conferring nationality on their children; more than 60 countries deny women equal rights to acquire, retain or change their nationality. These laws have devastating impacts on women and their families, giving rise to statelessness, limiting access to public education and health care, and increasing the risk of gender-based violence, unemployment and poverty.

During the event, organised by the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights, Dimitrina, Executive Director of the Equal Rights Trust, will introduce its research on the impact of gender discriminatory legislation on women and their families in Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia and Nepal. This research will be used to analyse the role of advocacy in the law reform process.

The Equal Rights Trust is a founding member of the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights. The Trust is also a member of the Campaign’s Steering Committee, together with UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UN Women, Equality Now, the Institute of Statelessness and Inclusion and the Women Refugees Centre, some of whom will also be speaking at the event.

The CSW runs from 9 – 20 March, convening UN member states, equality experts and NGOs from around the world to focus on achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment.

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