IV. International legal framework and OSCE commitments decrease of statelessness over time. In addition, States may retroactively apply newly introduced safeguards, allowing for acquisition of nationality by stateless people. There are four main areas in which the 1961 Convention provides concrete safeguards to be implemented by States in order to prevent statelessness. Firstly, the Convention prescribes measures to avoid statelessness among children by ensuring that a Contracting State grants its nationality to children who would otherwise be born stateless on its territory or to its nationals abroad, either at birth, by operation of law, or upon application (Articles 1-4).36 Article 2 provides for granting nationality to foundlings, specifying that, “A foundling found in the territory of a Contracting State shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be considered to have been born within that territory of parents possessing the nationality of that State.” Secondly, the Convention includes measures to avoid statelessness due to loss or renunciation of nationality (Articles 5-7). Thirdly, measures to avoid statelessness due to deprivation of nationality are prescribed, stipulating that the deprivation of nationality when it would lead to statelessness is prohibited, except in certain limited circumstances (Article 8) and that nationality may not be deprived on racial, ethnic, religious or political grounds (Article 9). Finally, the Convention includes measures to ensure that no one is rendered stateless as a result of a transfer of territory from one State to another (Article 10).37 International human rights instruments also include provisions that are relevant to the right to a nationality. The 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child – the most widely ratified international human rights treaty – re-affirms every child’s right to be registered after birth and to acquire a nationality, in particular if the child would otherwise be stateless: Article 7 1. The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents. 2. States Parties shall ensure the implementation of these rights in accordance with their national law and their obligations under the relevant 31