questions of the acquisition, retention, loss and recovery of nationality, procedural rights, nationality in the context of State succession, military obligations and cooperation among States Parties. It contains many provisions that aim to prevent the creation of statelessness. The ECN refers to the 1954 Convention for its definition of a stateless person. Europe’s recent experience with state succession led to a recognition that large numbers of people risk becoming stateless because they may lose their nationality before acquiring another. In an effort to avoid statelessness through state succession – which may occur as a result of a transfer of territory from one State to another, unification of States, dissolution of a State, or separation of part or parts of a territory – the Council of Europe adopted the Convention on the Avoidance of Statelessness in relation to State Succession. The Convention, which was adopted on 15 March 2006, contains specific rules on nationality in the case of State succession. Its 22 articles provide practical guidance on issues such as the responsibilities of the successor and predecessor States, rules of proof, avoiding statelessness at birth, and facilitating the acquisition of nationality by stateless persons. In 1999, the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union) adopted the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. Modeled on the CRC, the Charter shares some key principles with that earlier treaty, including non‑discrimination and the primary consideration of the best interests of the child. Article 6 of the Charter, which focuses on name and nationality and which contains a key safeguard to prevent statelessness among children, asserts that: • every child shall have the right from his birth to a name; • every child shall be registered immediately after birth; • every child has the right to acquire a nationality; and • States Parties to the Charter shall undertake to ensure that their constitutional legislation recognizes the principles according to which a child shall acquire the nationality of the State in the territory in which he was born if, at the time of the child’s birth, he is not granted nationality by any other State in accordance with its laws. The Covenant on the Rights of the Child in Islam was adopted by the 32nd Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers in June 2005. It provides that: 16 • every child shall have the right from birth to a name; • every child shall have the right to be registered; • States Parties to the Convenant shall make every effort to resolve the issue of statelessness for any child born on their territories or to any of their citizens outside their territory; and • foundlings shall have a right to name, title and nationality.