A/HRC/23/23 human rights, such as the rights to education and to health care, have also been raised.37 With regard to the entitlement to a passport, the Committee has raised concerns about the requirement for the father as legal guardian to consent to the inclusion of children in the married women’s passport.38 The Committee has also recommended that States raise awareness about the equality of spouses or guardians in their right to apply and collect passports or birth certificates on behalf of their children without the need for the spouses’ written consent.39 42. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has reminded States about their obligation to register births and its relevance to the acquisition of nationality.40 It is also crucial that States ensure prompt, equal and independent access to marriage registration. The registration of births and marriages is crucial for the formal recognition by the State of the new child in the family and the newly formed family bond.41 The ability of women to have independent, equal access to these documents is critical, especially if the father or husband dies or leaves the family, given that birth and marriage registration certificates are used to prove the child’s filiation. The non-registration of births and marriages is one of the main sources of statelessness. The Committee has also called on States to amend their nationality laws to ensure that no discrimination exists against children born out of wedlock. 42 V. Impact on the enjoyment of human rights 43. As discussed above, gender-discriminatory nationality laws often lead to the statelessness of women and children or situations where women, their children or husbands are deprived of the nationality of the country where they reside. Such laws result also in situations where children are denied the nationality of their mothers, causing direct prejudice to the enjoyment of their rights and in the achievement of women’s human rights. In its general recommendation 21 on equality in marriage and family relations, the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women stated that nationality was critical to full participation in society, adding that, without status as nationals or citizens, women were deprived of the right to vote or to stand for public office and may be denied access to public benefits and a choice of residence. 44. According to the main international human rights instruments, everyone is entitled to the enjoyment of rights and freedoms recognized in them without distinction of any kind, including national origin. Exceptions to this rule generally relate to the right to participate in political and public life and freedom of movement. Also regarding economic rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in its article 2.3, includes the possibility for developing countries, “with due regard to human rights and their national economy”, to “determine to what extent they would guarantee the economic rights recognized in the present Covenant to non-nationals”. Many States, however, go far beyond these limited exceptions and do not always guarantee basic human rights to non-nationals. 37 38 39 40 41 42 See ibid., Fifty-ninth Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/59/38), para. 300, CEDAW/C/EGY/CO/7 and CEDAW/C/JOR/CO/5. See Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/57/38), para. 141. For example, see CEDAW/C/ZMB/CO/5-6. CRC/C/15/Add.128, CRC/C/15/Add.138, CRC/C/KEN/CO/2, CRC/C/15/Add.261. Laura van Waas, Nationality Matters. Statelessness under International Law (Antwerp, Intersentia, 2008), p. 153. CRC/C/MDG/CO/3-4, CRC/C/OMN/CO/2. 11