STATELESSNESS AND CITIZENSHIP IN THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY origin”.310 However, recognising that some forms of discrimination are in fact the basis of nationality law, CERD also provides that “This Convention shall not apply to distinctions, exclusions, restrictions or preferences made by a State Party to this Convention between citizens and non-citizens”. It also exempts “legal provisions of States Parties concerning nationality, citizenship or naturalization, provided that such provisions do not discriminate against any particular nationality”.311 African standards The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), adopted in 1981 (entry into force 1986), does not contain an explicit provision on nationality. However, Article 5 of the Charter has been interpreted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to protect nationality rights (see next heading). It provides that: Every individual shall have the right to the respect of the dignity inherent in a human being and to the recognition of his legal status. The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa states in Article 6 that: g) a woman shall have the right to retain her nationality or to acquire the nationality of her husband; h) a woman and a man shall have equal rights with respect to the nationality of their children except where this is contrary to a provision in national legislation or is contrary to national security interests. Article 6 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) both repeats the provision of the UN CRC on the right of a child to acquire a nationality and incorporate the requirement in the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness relating to otherwise stateless children: (1) Every child shall have the right from his birth to a name. (2) Every child shall be registered immediately after birth. (3) Every child has the right to acquire a nationality. (4) States Parties to the present Charter shall undertake to ensure that their Constitutional legislation recognize the principles according to which a child shall acquire the nationality of the State in the territory of which he has been born if, at the time of the child's birth, he is not granted nationality by any other State in accordance with its laws. In May 2014, the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child adopted a General Comment on Article 6, which recommended that states parties should adopt legal provisions that provide nationality to children born on their territory not only where the child is otherwise stateless, but also in other cases where the child has the strongest connection to that state.312 In April 2013, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights adopted a resolution which reaffirmed the right to a nationality as implied within Article 5 of the Charter.313 A year later, the Commission formally 310 CERD, Article 5: “States Parties undertake to prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law, notably in the enjoyment of the following rights: […] (d) Other civil rights, in particular: […] (iii) The right to nationality.” 311 CERD, Article 1(1) and 1(2). See also Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, General Recommendation No. 30: Discrimination against Non-citizens, 2005. 312 African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, General Comment on Article 6 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, ACERWC/GC/02 (2014), adopted by the Committee at its 23rd Ordinary Session, 7-16 April, 2014, paragraphs 83-101. 313 Resolution No. 234 on the Right to Nationality, adopted at the 53 rd Ordinary Session 9-23 April 2013. UNHCR / September 2018 73