Amina, Ahmed and their children
Amina*, a Sudanese woman, had seven children
with her husband Ahmed, a Sudanese man who
passed away several years ago. Amina had no
identity documents and had not been able to
secure birth certificates for her children. A
domestic cleaner, Amina had dreams that her
children would get an education and become
professionals. When she realized the educational
and employment opportunities that would be
denied her children without identity
documentation, she went to the civil registry to try
to obtain birth certificates and national numbers
for them. However, the authorities asked her to
bring members of her husband’s family to testify
in order for the children to get birth certificates
and a national number. Amina was not in contact
with her husband’s family and did not know even
know where they lived.
While the Interim National Constitution of the
Republic of Sudan (2005) upholds the equal right
of men and women to pass nationality to their
children, the Sudanese Nationality Act (amended
2011) retains several provisions that discriminate
against women. However, in a decision in 2017,
the Supreme Court of Sudan reaffirmed the right
of Sudanese women to independently confer
nationality on their children, regardless of the
father’s nationality. Despite this important
decision – as Amina’s case demonstrates – it can
still be difficult for Sudanese mothers to
independently secure needed documentation for
their children. This underscores the need for
Sudan and other countries to address
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discrepancies between their Constitution,
nationality law, and related policies, in order to
ensure women’s independent right to confer
nationality and access birth certificates for their
children, regardless of the mother’s marital status.
Luckily for Amina, UNHCR was able to work with
authorities to first secure her national number and
then birth certificates and national numbers for
her children.
“Securing birth certificates and
national numbers for my children has
enabled them to sit for the primary
and high school qualifying exam,
and to access university. This in turn
means a better future as well as
work opportunities for them. Since
we got the [birth] certificates, I’m
finally able to sleep well in the night,
as I was feeling guilty for not being
able to secure these basic rights for
them.”
– Amina
G E N D E R D I S C R I M I N AT I O N A N D C H I L D H O O D S TAT E L E S S N E S S