 Most of the women were not aware that under Kenyan law, women and men have equal rights to confer their nationality to their children and spouses. Upon being made aware of the law, most doubted that it would be correctly applied.  Even though most of the women were not aware of their legal rights, they all had a sense that as Kenyan citizens, they ought to be entitled to pass their nationality to their children and husbands.  From their experiences, most women also felt that decision-makers generally had a low level of knowledge about the fact that the nationality law was gender equal. They also noted that the prevailing view in their communities, and in society in general, was that Kenyan nationality could only be acquired through paternal descent. The dialogue participants made the following conclusions and identified the following areas for further work to improve the effectiveness of the nationality law:  It is very positive that Kenya has achieved full gender equality in its nationality law, however gaps remain in the effective implementation of the law.  Women, and the general public, need to be made aware that men and women have an equal right under the law to confer their nationality to their children and spouses. Civil society organisations, and women’s rights groups and community leaders should play an active role in explaining this important aspect of the law to Kenyan women and other members of the public.  Decision-makers, especially at the local level and members of nationality vetting committees, also need to be made aware that Kenyan nationality legislation is gender equal, and need to be trained so that they can correctly implement the law.

Select target paragraph3