UN panel urges UAE to give women equal divorce rights

• The United Nations has urged Emirati women to have “equal rights to acquire, change and retain their nationality”.
• Says personal status laws discriminate against women and girls, especially when it legally preserves male guardianship.
• Considering the issue, said the UAE was “very competent and well-prepared”.

GENEVA: UN experts on Monday urged the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to give women the same citizenship rights as men and called for equal rights for men and women in marriage and divorce.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) expressed concern following its fourth periodic review of the United Arab Emirates.

CEDAW is a body of 23 independent experts that oversees the implementation of the Treaty to End Discrimination against Women.

“The Committee is concerned about the many provisions of the Personal Status Act that discriminate against women and girls, in particular the legal reservation of male custody, the persistence of polygamy and the limited grounds for divorce available to women,” it said.

“It recommends that the State party undertake a comprehensive legislative review to provide women with equal rights in marriage, family relations, divorce and custody of property and children.”

Experts are also concerned that women in the UAE do not have the same rights as men to pass on citizenship to their children.

They urged the country to give Emirati women “equal rights to acquire, change and retain their nationality and grant it to children and foreign spouses”.

Committee member Lia Nadaraia told reporters in Geneva that the UAE had made “significant progress” since 2015 and the last periodic review, and hoped that the agency’s recommendations would also be accepted this time around.

She also said the UAE was “very competent and well-prepared” when considering these issues.