Dear friends,
My mother passed away last week.
As I’ve sat with grief, I’ve found myself thinking about mothers everywhere and the extraordinary lengths they go to protect their children. My mother’s life was very different from that of a refugee mother, but the instinct is the same: keep your children safe, help them belong, and leave them with a better future.
For millions of women around the world, that task is made harder not only by war, persecution, or displacement, but by the law itself.
At the end of 2024, more than 123 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes. Among them are mothers carrying children across borders, navigating unfamiliar systems, and making impossible decisions every day.
Yet in 24 countries, women still do not have the same right as men to pass their nationality to their children. It is easy to overlook how devastating that can be until a crisis hits. A child may be unable to obtain documentation, access services, prove family ties, or establish legal status. Families can be left vulnerable to separation, exploitation, or statelessness.
These are borders that exist long before anyone reaches a checkpoint. They are borders written into law.
On World Refugee Day, I hope we remember that protection is not only about shelter and safety. It is also about rights, belonging, and the ability of every mother to secure a future for her children.
At Equality Now, we work with partners to change discriminatory nationality laws so women and men have equal rights to confer nationality on children and spouses. We invite you as changemakers to join us.
Because no mother should have to wonder whether the law will recognize her child as fully as it recognizes a father’s.
With appreciation and in solidarity,
Mona Sinha
Chief Executive Officer
Equality Now