DIVERSE PATHS TO EQUALITY: NATIONALITY LAW REFORM IN LIBERIA AND MADAGASCAR
DIVERSE PATHS TO EQUALITY: NATIONALITY LAW REFORM IN LIBERIA AND MADAGASCAR

Summary/Abstract: This article provides a comprehensive analysis of recent reforms aimed at abolishing gender discrimination in nationality laws in Liberia and Madagascar. Historically, both countries’ citizenship laws contained patriarchal provisions that prevented women from conferring nationality on the same terms as men, leading to human rights concerns and risk of statelessness. Drawing on feminist legal theory and international norms, the study examines the distinct legal and political contexts that shaped these discriminatory laws and the subsequent reform processes. Liberia’s amendment in 2022, intertwined with debates on dual citizenship and a longstanding “Negro descent” clause, and Madagascar’s amendment in 2016–2017, emerging from post-colonial legal legacies, are compared to highlight how different domestic pathways converged toward a common goal of gender-equal citizenship. The influence of international human rights frameworks CEDAW and norm diffusion is assessed in driving these changes. Implementation challenges – from administrative capacity to social attitudes – are critically discussed through the lens of state capacity and gender equality theory. While both nations have significantly improved compliance with international standards by enabling mothers to pass citizenship to their children, gaps remain (such as Liberia’s racial restriction and Madagascar’s inequality in spousal transmission). The article concludes with recommendations for further legal and policy measures to consolidate equal nationality rights, emphasizing that legal reform must be complemented by broader societal change to achieve substantive gender equality in citizenship.

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