© UNHCR/Charity Nzomo Kenya grants nationality to the Makonde, Pemba and Shona minority groups Most of the formerly stateless populations in Kenya came from minority groups that arrived from other countries in the early to mid-20th century, before Kenya’s independence. These groups – which include the Makonde, Pemba, Shona, and persons of Burundian and Rwandan decent – were not registered as citizens for a variety of factors, rendering them stateless for decades. As a result, these communities languished on the margins of Kenyan society, unable to fully participate in economic, education and other essential systems. More than half (53 percent) of Shona people in Kenya lived below the national poverty line, and secondary school-aged Kenyans in urban areas were twice as likely be enrolled in classes as their Shona counterparts. Following the launch of the IBelong Campaign, the Government of Kenya pledged to work with UNHCR to ease the challenges of stateless people and facilitate 14 #IBELONG pathways to nationality. In 2019, the Government created a Taskforce on Statelessness, which conducted socioeconomic surveys and other data exercises to help identify and prepare qualified individuals for citizenship. These efforts have been very fruitful so far. Three years after the IBelong Campaign began, in 2017, then-President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya declared official recognition for 4,000 members of the Makonde community. In December 2020, the Government granted citizenship to 1,670 stateless Shona people and 1,300 stateless individuals of Rwandan descent. Two years later, in 2022, the Government announced that it would provide registration and other documentation to recognize the Pemba people as citizens of Kenya. Through partnership with UNHCR, the World Bank and others – and guided by the Global Action Plan – the Government of Kenya continues to resolve long-lasting situations of statelessness.