My nationality is a right for me and my family campaign: our right is not Patronage
“My nationality is a right for me and my family” Campaign and the “Collective for Research & Training on Development - Action” in partnership and cooperation with “Salam for Democracy and Human Rights” launched the advocacy campaign “Our right is not Patronage”, to demand the Lebanese state for immediate action in amending the Nationality Law to achieve full equality between women and men.
The campaign was launched to answer questions starting from the date of enactment of the Nationality Law that falls within the “monuments” of Lebanon, and which is not even suitable for tourist viewing, as it was issued during the French mandate period since 1925 during the reign of General Sarail, the French High Commissioner at the time. Among the remnants of this "artifact" law is the deprivation of the children and spouses of Lebanese women of their right to obtain citizenship in the same way as the children and wives of Lebanese men.
The campaign moved to present the problematic of the fate of the draft laws aimed at amending the Nationality Law, considering that the problem is nothing but “political in the Lebanese way”, as two draft laws were presented to Parliament after the last parliamentary elections. The two proposals adopted the demands of My nationality is a Right for me and my family Campaign for full equality for women by adopting the principle of equality in law between women and men in granting citizenship.
The first proposal dates to August 6, 2018, and the second one dates to May 14, 2019. Both proposals are still “stuck” in Parliament. The Campaign called to stop discrimination and inaction, to include the two proposals on the agenda of the Parliament, to vote on the draft amendment without any discrimination or exception and to take the necessary legislative and executive measures to pass the law.
The campaign presented to the Lebanese state the following demands: to abide by the Lebanese Constitution, which stipulates that everyone is equal before the law in rights and duties; to abide by the international covenants that Lebanon has signed, especially the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and amending discriminatory laws, especially the Nationality Law, to guarantee the right of Lebanese women to pass on citizenship to their families. The campaign stressed the continuation of the struggle to achieve equality between all male and female citizens and to remove any discriminatory legal text from the exhibition of daily human life.
