and Reduction of Statelessness and Protection of Stateless persons. 9 The Executive Committee Conclusion ‘urges UNHCR, in cooperation with governments, other United Nations and international as well as relevant regional and non-governmental organizations, to strengthen its efforts in this domain by pursuing targeted activities to support the identification, prevention and reduction of statelessness and to further the protection of stateless persons.’ It is in this spirit that UNHCR globally, and in Kenya in particular, seeks to partner with relevant stakeholders in furthering its mandate and work regarding the identification, prevention, reduction and protection in the context of statelessness. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) is an independent national human rights institution established by the Government of Kenya through the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights Act.10 Its core mandate is to further the protection and promotion of human rights in Kenya. In 2007 the KNCHR undertook a study on and launched its publication titled “An Identity Crisis: A Study on the Issuance of the National Identity Cards in Kenya”. This study was framed in response to a number of complaints received by the KNCHR alleging discrimination of some ethnic communities or certain parts of Kenya in the issuance of Identity Cards. Some of the study’s key findings and recommendations focused on the nationality of certain ethnic groups in Kenya. Other studies over the last years which examined nationality legislations in Africa, and related administrative practices and the position of particular ethnic groups in that context have also noted the problem of asserting nationality for certain groups in Kenya.11 It is against this background and in the spirit of fulfilling their respective mandates that the KNCHR and the UNHCR collaborated in commissioning this study on nationality problems in Kenya and on particular groups which may be at risk of statelessness. While the study does not purport to provide absolute or comprehensive answers to all nationality and statelessness issues in the Kenyan context, it identifies and studies some of the probable and root causes of nationality problems and provides orientation for further research and advocacy or litigation. Among its recommendations, the study calls upon the Government of Kenya to ascertain the full scope (identification) of statelessness in Kenya and to take comprehensive measures to prevent and reduce the incidence of statelessness and to protect the stateless and those at risk of See UNGA resolution A/RES/61/137 of 19 December 2006, endorsing the Executive Committee Conclusion 106 (LVII) of 2006. 9 Act No. 9 of 2002 See for instance Bronwen Manby; “Struggles for Citizenship in Africa”; “Citizenship Law in Africa” a comparative study by: Africa Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project and Open Society Initiative. . 10 11 OUT OF THE SHADOWS TOWARDS ENSURING THE RIGHTS OF STATELESS PERSONS AND PERSONS AT RISK OF STATELESSNESS IN KENYA vii