In a major development to prevent statelessness, Liberia has amended its nationality law to grant women and men equal rights to confer nationality to their children.<\/p>\n
The President of Liberia signed into law an act to amend the Aliens and Nationality Law on 5 August, removing gender-discriminatory provisions which prevented children from acquiring the nationality of their mother.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe applaud Liberia\u2019s historic move breaking the gender barrier to conferring nationality. Gender discrimination in nationality laws remains a primary cause of statelessness among children, and this development speaks to Liberia\u2019s commitment to tackle this issue,\u201d said Gillian Triggs, the UN Refugee Agency\u2019s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection.<\/p>\n
Liberia is the third country to reform legislation in granting women and men equal rights in passing on their nationality to their children since the #IBelong Campaign to end Statelessness by 2024 was launched in 2014, following Madagascar and Sierra Leone.<\/p>\n