5th mayo 2026

Intervention on the Activity Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Internally Displaced Persons

Nationality law Africa

Quick Links

Equality Now’s shadow report highlights the urgent need to reform discriminatory nationality laws across Africa that deny women equal rights to confer citizenship. Despite progress, gender inequality persists, leaving women and children at risk of statelessness, poverty, and violence. The report calls for decisive legal and policy action, grounded in human rights standards, to ensure equality in nationality rights. It underscores the importance of centering lived experiences and accelerating the implementation of regional frameworks to achieve lasting change. 

What’s included in the statement?

  • Overview of gender discrimination in nationality laws and its human rights impact
  • Regional data and legal analysis on the scale of inequality
  • Insights from multi-stakeholder convenings and advocacy efforts
  • Model legal provisions and roadmaps to guide reform
  • Progress towards the adoption and implementation of the AU Nationality Protocol

Who’s this statement for?

  • Member States of the African Union and State Parties to the Maputo Protocol
  • Civil Society Organisations
  • Human rights bodies and regional institutions 
  • Legal professionals

Download your file

Missing gravity form id.

Key takeaways and recommendations

  • Enshrine gender equality in nationality laws and eliminate sex discrimination
  • Guarantee women’s equal rights to confer nationality to children and spouses
  • Protect every child’s right to a nationality
  • Centre the lived experiences of affected communities in reform processes
  • Urgently sign and ratify the AU Nationality Protocol to strengthen accountability and implementation

About

5 de mayo de 2026

Languages

EN

Classification

Submissions
Nationality law
Africa

More information

For more information, contact programs@equalitynow.org.

Explore more resources

1

2

3

30 de julio de 2026

Moldova: Joint Stakeholder Submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review 54th Session of the UPR Working Group of the Human Rights Council

Read our joint UN submission calling on Moldova to strengthen laws, access to justice and survivor support to address gender-based violence against women and girls, including those facing intersecting discrimination.

Read more +

EN

Submissions End sexual violence Europe and Central Asia

30 de julio de 2026

Ukraine: Joint Stakeholder Submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review 54th Session of the UPR Working Group of the Human Rights Council

Read our joint UN submission assessing Ukraine’s progress, gaps and measures needed to strengthen responses to gender-based violence against women and girls, including in the context of ongoing armed conflict.

Read more +

EN

Submissions End sexual violence Europe and Central Asia

30 de julio de 2026

Submissions on the ACHPR draft declaration on the promotion of the role of human and peoples’ rights defenders and their protection in Africa

Equality Now and joint civil society organisations submitted recommendations to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) on its Draft Declaration on the Promotion of the Role of Human and Peoples’ Rights Defenders and Their Protection in Africa. The submission calls for stronger protections for human rights defenders, particularly women human rights defenders, and urges the Commission to ensure that the Declaration is grounded in binding human rights standards, refrains from the anti-rights language of vague ‘African values and traditions’, strengthens civic space, p…

Read more +

EN

Submissions Achieve legal equality Africa

Newsletter Sign-up

Make a donation

I want to donate