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Africa Multistakeholder Convening — Hero
Africa Multistakeholder Convening, Nairobi 2026
Achieving Gender Equality in Nationality Laws Nairobi · February 2026

Africa Multistakeholder Convening

Africa Multistakeholder Convening — Sections
About the convening

Achieving Gender Equal Nationality Laws Across Africa

The Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights (GCENR), together with longstanding partners Equality Now, the Global Alliance to End Statelessness, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, UNHCR, and UN Women, convened the Africa Multistakeholder Convening on Achieving Gender Equality in Nationality Laws to accelerate reform efforts across the continent.

Held in Nairobi in February 2026, the convening brought together government representatives, parliamentarians, civil society leaders including impacted activists, and regional and international experts to move toward coordinated action. With each day centered on the lived realities of impacted activists, participants shared national experiences, identified legal and political barriers, and worked collectively to advance solutions. The convening resulted in the development of clear road maps for multistakeholder action to achieve reforms and reinforced a growing commitment across Africa to uphold women’s equal right to confer nationality on their children.

We have seen the willingness of African governments, parliamentarians, and civil society to address this man-made problem that is holding countries back. The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Specific Aspects of the Right to a Nationality and the Eradication of Statelessness in Africa provides a clear legal and political framework for reform and firmly grounds the imperative to end gender discrimination in nationality laws in Africa’s own human rights system. Gender-equal nationality laws is also an obligation enshrined in international human rights conventions that have been widely ratified across Africa, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

40
Delegates
Participants from across Africa, alongside a number of international experts
8
Countries
Represented at the convening, including 5 target countries and 3 countries with recent reforms
2
Days
Workshops and working sessions
5
Roadmaps
Action plans developed by target country delegates for multi stakeholder reform efforts
Voices from the Convening
“
My children, born of my body, raised with my love, rocked by my stories of our native land, were considered as foreigners at home... When the President promulgated the reform something magical happened in me. It was not just a new rule in a code. It was a recognition. For the first time, the State looked me in the eyes and said to me: 'You are a citizen fully. Your place in the nation is as legitimate as that of a man. Your link with your child is as sacred and recognized as that of the father.'
Clarisse Nirinasoa Hamed  —  Impacted Madagascan Mother
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What the Convening Focused On

01
The global and African landscape
Participants examined the global picture of gender discrimination in nationality laws, its human consequences, and why reform is urgent across Africa.
Day 1
02
Regional and international legal standards
Sessions explored CEDAW, children’s rights frameworks, statelessness prevention, and African regional instruments as legal foundations for reform.
Day 1
03
Lived experiences and national realities
Impacted mothers and activists shared personal experiences, while country groups reflected on national barriers, opportunities, and entry points for reform.
Day 1
04
Lessons from reform processes
Participants learned from country case studies, including Liberia, Madagascar, and Sierra Leone, examining parliamentary, governmental, and civil society roles in advancing change.
Day 2
05
Building national roadmaps
Country teams mapped next steps, key stakeholders, advocacy opportunities, and timelines to advance gender-equal nationality laws.
Day 2
06
From dialogue to action
The convening concluded with a collective reflection on how to translate commitments into coordinated advocacy and legislative reform across Africa.
Day 2
Joint Statement

Equal Citizenship.
Equal Families.
Equal Africa.

A shared commitment. A call to act now.

We have seen the willingness of African governments, parliamentarians, and civil society to address this man-made problem that is holding countries back.

The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Specific Aspects of the Right to a Nationality and the Eradication of Statelessness in Africa provides a clear legal and political framework for reform and firmly grounds the imperative to end gender discrimination in nationality laws in Africa’s own human rights system.

African mothers and their children cannot wait: equal nationality rights must be guaranteed in law and in practice to protect families, uphold women’s equal citizenship, and prevent statelessness.

We pledge our support to realizing gender-equal nationality rights across Africa and beyond. We urge African governments and parliaments to act now by amending discriminatory nationality laws and ratifying and domesticating the African Union Protocol on the Right to a Nationality.

Read our full statement
Co-sponsors
GCENR Equality Now Global Alliance to End Statelessness Inter-Parliamentary Union UNHCR UN Women