Our Motherland, Our Country: Gender Discrimination and Statelessness in the Middle East and North Africa

Statelessness—where an individual does not enjoy the legal bond of nationality with any state—affects an estimated 12 million people worldwide.  Being stateless has grave consequences, often leading to violations of fundamental human rights.

Twenty-nine countries around the world, 14 of them in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), still have discriminatory nationality laws that make it impossible for women to transfer their nationality to their children. This report details the effects of this gender discrimination in two countries in the MENA region where the practice persists (Jordan and Kuwait) and describes the benefits where the law has changed to allow children to gain their mother’s nationality (Morocco and Egypt).