At independence, most countries in Africa discriminated on the basis of gender in the rules on transmission of citizenship to children and spouses. In recent years, however, nationality laws have increasingly been reformed to reduce or remove gender discrimination.
A substantial majority of African countries now give men and women equal rights to transmit nationality to their children; and roughly half provide equal rights to transmit nationality to a spouse.
These reforms are in line with the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) which prohibits discrimination in nationality law on the basis of gender: all African countries except Sudan and Somalia are parties to this treaty.
By Gift ChapiOdekina, Abuja The House of Representatives on Thursday passed for second reading a bill seeking to return Nigeria to a parliamentary system of government. The bill is among 31 constitutional amendment bills that scaled second reading during plenary, […]
Hundreds take part in human rights festival at Constitutional Hill By Ihsaan Haffejee and Kimberly Mutandiro News | Johannesburg Hundreds of people joined the celebrations at the seventh Human Rights Festival at Constitutional Hill in Johannesburg over the weekend. This […]
Since 2012, UNHCR has issued an annual background note on gender equality in nationality laws related to the conferral of nationality on children. Nationality laws that do not grant women equal rights with men to confer nationality on their children […]
By Moraa Obiria Tanzanian widows in Taita Taveta County, remain in limbo without IDs, largely due to a lack of awareness about the citizenship acquisition process. Village elders are attempting to spread information through word-of-mouth, but without proper funding and […]
By Jacinta Mutura For eight years, Blessings Iminza has lived without an identity. Each new day is a painful reminder that her dream of returning home remains just that—a dream. She is not alone; thousands of children born to Kenyan […]
GENEVA – More than half a million people around the world who were living in the shadows, deprived of their right to nationality, have now acquired citizenship since the inception a decade ago of the #IBelong campaign, according to a […]
Nationality laws which do not grant women equality with men in conferring nationality on their children are a cause of statelessness and a concern for UNHCR.1 Since 2012, UNHCR has issued an annual background note on gender equality in provisions […]
Zaina Jninasamedi Le Comité de Suivi des recommandations du Comité des Nations Unies pour l’élimination de la discrimination raciale a récemment sonné l’alarme, appelant à des réformes législatives concrètes pour garantir l’égalité des sexes en matière de transmission de la […]
A CONCERNED group is calling for an end to fake marriages in Mzansi. The group, calling themselves SA Citizens, claimed that foreign nationals are marrying South African women to obtain citizenship. Tshidiso Motikoe, a member of SA Citizens, said they […]
CERD/C/MAR/CO/19-21 Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Concluding observations on the combined nineteenth to twenty-first periodic reports of Morocco * 1.The Committee considered the combined nineteenth to twenty-first periodic reports of Morocco, submitted in one document, at its 3024th […]
By Cristiano d’Orsi d’Orsi, C. (2023). One Step Forward, Half Step Back: the Still Long Way to Go to End Statelessness in Madagascar. African Human Mobility Review, 9(3). https://doi.org/10.14426/ahmr.v9i3.1131 Abstract This work sheds light on the still unresolved plight of […]
Pensant que le Code de la nationalité autorise dorénavant l’octroi de la nationalité marocaine à des étrangers mariés à des Marocaines, de nombreux internautes ont déversé leur colère à travers les réseaux sociaux. Par Soumaya Naamane Guessous Début septembre, les […]