Stateless Children in Kenya Now Get a Better Start With Birth Certificates

600 young children from Kenya’s stateless Shona group have been issued birth certificates by the government for the very first time, in a drive to end statelessness and provide the Shona a better future with improved rights and opportunities.

The Shona community of 3,500 arrived from Zimbabwe to Kenya in the 1960s but are not recognized as nationals from either country.

It is estimated that 15 million people in the world are stateless, and often lack the documents required to get a bank account, education, a job, passport or a mobile phone. They may also be denied entry in government buildings, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

Kenya, a country with around 18,500 stateless people, first set an example in 2017, when they awarded citizenship to the entire population of 8,000 Makonde – another stateless group originally from Mozambique – after 80 years of being without nationality.