The Open Society Justice Initiative, the Open Society Initiative for East Africa, Namati, and the Nubian Rights Forum submitted this briefing paper to assist the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in its efforts to ensure the implementation of the case of Nubian Minors v. Kenya. In that March 22, 2011 decision, the Committee found Kenya in violation of the African Children’s Rights Charter in the discriminatory rules and practices applied to Nubian children in the recognition of Kenyan nationality.

Three years later, Nubians continue to suffer this discrimination. Nubian children still must provide excessive documentation in support of birth certificate and identity card applications, and Nubians continue to undergo vetting in order to obtain identity cards. This briefing draws on data generated from a community-based paralegal assistance program, which identifies precisely how the government of Kenya continues to fall short in recognizing Kenyan nationality for Nubian children on a non-discriminatory basis.