Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)

The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) is a premier and flagship Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Africa with a mandate of enhancing human rights-centered governance at all levels; a vision of a society of free people and a mission to root human dignity, freedoms, and social justice in Kenya and beyond. To address systemic human rights violations and governance deficits, KHRC applies a Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA) that is double-prolonged; targeting both the affected people (rights-holders) and the violators (duty-bearers) involved. The KHRC has been a pioneer in working with minority, marginalized and disadvantaged groups to enable them to defend and realize their human rights. One such constituency that KHRC has supported is the stateless communities in Kenya. The KHRC has sought to advocated for elimination of all forms of discrimination with regard to the right to citizenship since 1998. Following sustained advocacy efforts by the KHRC, several stateless communities have attained Kenyan citizenship. This includes the Makonde community in 2016, the Shona community in 2020, and the Pemba community in 2022. The KHRC continues to support the stateless Rwandese and Rundi communities. The KHRC also supports communities at risk of statelessness who face administrative discrimination in accessing nationality and identity documents. KHRC has also been at the forefront of fighting discrimination and ensuring adequate inclusion of marginalized communities during the proposed roll out of Digital ID systems in Kenya.