Dialogue with Kenyan women and their families During the dialogue, four Kenyan women spoke about their experiences of conferring or acquiring Kenyan nationality. Their testimonies are included in the Annex to this report. To protect their identities, the names of all the women have been changed. Three of the women were married to stateless men from the Makonde community, which is mainly located on Kenya’s southern coast. Originating in Northern Mozambique, the vast majority of the population living in Kenya arrived prior to Kenyan independence and several generations have since been born in the country. In order to acquire proof of Kenyan nationality, members of the Makonde community often have to undergo an identity verification process known as vetting, which requires an individual to prove her or his connection to Kenya upon reaching the age of 18. The women participating in the dialogue explained the difficulties faced by their Makonde spouses in acquiring Kenyan national identity cards, which are the only valid proof of nationality for adult Kenyan citizens. While the inability of these men to acquire Kenyan nationality or proof of such nationality was clearly related to the discrimination they faced on account of their belonging to the Makonde community, it was also clear that the right of their wives to confer Kenyan nationality to them was not being recognised nor were resulting procedures for conferral of nationality being correctly followed. The fourth woman recounted her experience of acquiring Kenyan nationality from her Kenyan mother, once the 2010 and 2011 legislative reforms had been passed. Her experience revealed that while the reforms have been a very positive development, problems with the effective implementation of the new laws persist. The following common themes and findings emerged from the dialogue discussion:  The negative impacts of women not being able to confer their nationality to their stateless husbands affected the entire family. The most commonly raised impacts included: o o o o o o  poverty, resulting from lost employment opportunities; limited access to healthcare, education and legal redress; risk-taking and illegal behaviour to acquire Kenyan national identity documents, which also implicated members of the wider family and community; stress and tension in the family, sometimes resulting in emotional and physical violence; ostracisation by Kenyan society more broadly; and fear for the future, particularly whether children when they become adults will be able to acquire proof of, and benefit from, Kenyan nationality. All the women had taken significant steps to obtain proof of nationality, either for themselves, their children or their spouses, including by making repeated application attempts and travelling long distances to seek audiences with decision-makers. All went to great efforts to ameliorate the impacts of not being able to confer their nationality (e.g. by working voluntarily at their children’s school to allow them to attend).