The Shona are a formerly stateless community in Kenya who originated from Zimbabwe. Although initially documented, a subsequent change in the Registration of Persons Act of prevented them from accessing Kenyan identity cards, and without links to Zimbabwe, they were eventually rendered stateless. In 2020, the Government of Kenya took steps to recognize the Shona minority and by 2021 a further 1,649 people were granted Kenyan citizenship. For more, see: ‘From Stateless to Citizens: the journey of the Shona community in Kenya’, UNHCR Policy Brief, October 2024, available at: https://data. unhcr.org/en/documents/details/111718. 1 Nicholas Asego, ‘Meet first Shona woman graduate in Kenya who fights for stateless people’, October 2024, available at: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/national/article/2001504202/nosizi-dube-firstshona-woman-graduate-fighting-for-stateless-people. 2 Nosizi Dube, as cited in the article ‘From stateless to citizens: Kenya’s success offers hope in Africa’, Thomson Reuters Foundation, October 2024, available at: https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2024/fromstateless-to-citizens-kenyas-success-offers-hope-in-africa/. 3 Nationality refers to the legal bond between a person and a state and, depending on the context, can have a different meaning and connotation from ‘citizenship’. Throughout this report however, these terms will be used interchangeably. 4 The UN Legal Identity Agenda defines ‘legal identity’ as “encompassing the basic characteristics of an individual's identity. e.g. name, sex, place and date of birth conferred through registration and the issuance of a certificate by an authorized civil”. Available at: https://unstats.un.org/legal-identityagenda/. 5 Formal education is defined by UNESCO as education that is “…institutionalized, intentional and planned through public organizations and recognized private bodies.” Available at: https://uis.unesco. org/sites/default/files/documents/international-standard-classification-of-education-isced-2011-en.pdf, para. 36. The challenges faced by stateless children in accessing education have previously been flagged in a number of reports and studies, including UNHCR, ‘I am here, I belong. The urgent need to end childhood statelessness’, 2015, available at: https://www.unhcr.org/ibelong/wp-content/uploads/201510-StatelessReport_ENG16.pdf. 6 The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI) is the first and only non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting the right to nationality and the protection of stateless people globally. For more information on ISI, please visit: www.institutesi.org. 7 Bairska Svetlina (North Macedonia); Council on Minorities (Bangladesh), Development and Justice Initiative (India); Dominicans por Derechos (Dominican Republic); ELOM Initiatives (Malaysia); Family Frontiers (Malaysia); IMKAAN Welfare Organization (Pakistan); ISKUL (Malaysia); Kituo Cha Haki Kibera (Kenya); Nubian Rights Forum (Kenya); Phiren Amenca (Montenegro); Rohingya Human Rights Initiative (India); Rohingya Women’s Development Network (Malaysia). 8 These included members of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education and representatives from child rights or inclusive education programmes of a number of UN agencies and NGOs. 9 10 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), Art. 2. 11 Ibid., Art 3 UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), General comment No. 6 (2005): Treatment of Unaccompanied and Separated Children Outside their Country of Origin, 1 September 2005, CRC/ GC/2005/6, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/42dd174b4.html. 12 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Art. 26); 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Arts. 13 & 14); 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (Arts. 28 & 29); 1979 13 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Art. 10); 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Art. 24). 1952 European Convention on Human Rights, Protocol 1 (Art. 2), 1990 African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (Art. 11); 1988 American Convention on Human Rights, Additional Protocol (Art. 13). 14 15 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (Art. 22). For example: 1960 UNESCO Convention Against Discrimination in Education; UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 4 focuses on education) and Education 2030 Framework for Action; Global Partnership for Education (GPE); Right to Education Project (RTE); Global Compact on Refugees (GCR); Global Coalition for Education (GCE); Global Initiative on Out-of-School Children (OOSC); Education Cannot Wait (ECW). 16 A joint report published by UNICEF and UNHCR in 2021 warned that in “many countries” women can face discrimination which obstructs or hinders their ability to register births, exposing their children to the risk of becoming stateless. These include instances where countries may block birth registration to children born outside of wedlock, or where fathers must be present to complete the birth registration process. In other cases a child’s birth may go unregistered because of the costs associated with the process, or the impracticality or inaccessibility of completing the registration process. UNHCR and UNICEF: Background Note on Sex Discrimination in Birth Registration, 6 July 2021, available at: https:// www.refworld.org/policy/opguidance/unhcr/2021/en/123888 17 The Citizenship Affected Person’s Network (CAPN) was founded in 2015 to connect stateless individuals affected by discriminatory nationality laws and support them in advocating for their rights. For more information pn its history and ongoing work, please see https://capnnepal.org.np/. 18 Daniela Lima Rodriguez was born in South Africa to Cuban parents. At the time of her birth, Daniela did not acquire Cuban nationality from her parents because under Cuban nationality law, her parents were treated as ’emigres’, leaving them unable to confer nationality. Daniela did not acquire South African nationality at birth, despite a constitutional provision bestowing South African nationality on children born stateless in South Africa. As a result, Daniela was born and remained stateless for the first decade of her life. 19 Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) is an independent, South Africa based non-profit that specializes in strategic litigation on human rights issues. LHR was responsible for the successful litigation of Daniela Lima Rodriguez’ claim for nationality. For more information about LHR’s activities, please see https:// www.lhr.org.za/. 20 DGLR & KMRG v Minister of Home Affairs and Others (Case No. 38429/13) [2014] ZAGPPHC (3 July 2014), available at https://lawlibrary.org.za/akn/za-gp/judgment/zagpjhc/2024/1834/eng%402024-02-08. 21 Bairska Svetlina (North Macedonia); Council on Minorities (Bangladesh); OMBICA (Dominican Republic); ELOM Initiatives (Malaysia); IMKAAN Welfare Organization (Pakistan); ISKUL (Malaysia); Nubian Rights Forum (Kenya); Rohingya Human Rights Initiative (India); Citizenship Affected People’s Nethwork (Nepal) Un Ponte Per (Iraq). Awareness month events also took place in The Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Australia. 22 UN Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (CMW), UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of children in the context of international migration in countries of origin, transit, destination and return, CMW/C/GC/4-CRC/C/GC/23, 16 November 2017, https://www.refworld.org/legal/general/cmw/2017/ en/119567 23 19