Amazing things can happen when communities and paralegals take on big challenges together.
Take the story of Botul, a mother of four and member of Kenya’s Nubian community. These Muslim-majority ethnic and tribal groups have faced generations of discrimination that have denied them access to their basic rights.
As a result, Botul couldn’t obtain an ID necessary to access her children’s birth certificates. Without documents, her children were kicked out of school.
Botul didn’t give up hope. With the help of Zena, community paralegals from Nubian Rights Forum – a legal empowerment group supported by Namati – Botul learned her rights and was supported through every step of the identity application process. Botul got to understand and demand her rights. After months of perseverance, she finally obtained her ID and her children back into school.
Botul didn’t stop there. She took what she learned and helped others in her community demand their rights.
This is the ripple effect of legal empowerment. These are the stories that give us hope.
Namati and our partners in Kenya track thousands of cases like Botul’s to advocate for systemic change. Our goal is to end citizenship discrimination in both law and practice.
Worldwide, Namati and our partners are deepening democracy by putting the power of law in people’s hands.