In 2015, after almost a decade, the Commission issued a landmark decision, making critically important findings about the right to nationality that were hitherto not explicit in the African Charter. The decision noted that Côte d’Ivoire’s discrimination against “dioulas” is not reflective of the ethnic and cultural diversity that contributed to the formation of the state of Côte d’Ivoire at independence, and that a nationality law that was applied discriminatorily to this group was not only dangerous but failed to appreciate the formation of the country itself. The Commission ordered Cote d’Ivoire to amend its constitution and bring its nationality code in conformity with the African Charter and the statelessness conventions, and put in place – through legislative and administrative means – a simplified declaration procedure that would enable the recognition of Ivoirian nationality to all those affected. The Commission further ordered the state to: (1) improve its birth registration system and ensure that it be administered efficiently and free of discrimination, (2) provide fair and independent courts to hear nationality cases, and (3) introduce sanctions for public officers that discriminatorily or without cause deny access to legal identity documents. Implementation and Impact After the ACHPR spoke, OSJI, together with Le Mouvement Ivoirien des Droits Humains (MIDH), began working on legal and administrative reforms to Cote d’Ivoire’s practices on citizenship that would bring them in in line with the Commission’s decision. We also sought to inform affected communities about the decision and the issues therein, mobilized a civil society coalition that would support the implementation of the decision, and undertook broader advocacy on issues around statelessness in the country. Several key factors were responsible for the progress that has been made to date. Transition in Political Environment Notably, in this case, the ACHPR’s judicial decision dovetailed with a changing political environment in Côte d’Ivoire. When the decision was first issued, the government had already introduced a series of reforms and amendments to expand the acquisition of nationality, ratified the Statelessness Conventions, and supported a Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Right to a Nationality in Africa. The country had also spearheaded a regional discussion on nationality and statelessness by serving as host to the Ministerial Conference on Statelessness in ECOWAS in 2015. These reforms were made possible mainly because President Alassane Ouattara -- who had assumed office in 2010 – was himself a victim of this divisive law as it had barred him from running for the country’s highest political office. Having previously served as the country’s Prime Minister, it is believed that the nationality law was enacted, in part, to target Ouattara and bar him from running for office after rumors surfaced that his father had been born in neighboring Burkina Faso. He was eventually allowed to run for office, however, and his presidency ushered in much needed reforms for the country’s citizenship law. This change in political environment also provided an opportunity for constructive engagement with the government once the ACHPR issued its 2015 decision. The ACHPR acknowledged these reforms in its decision; however, it noted that they had not yet addressed the problems identified in the original communication, nor addressed the root causes of people without a nationality. Indeed, at the time of the Commission’s decision, an estimated 2