individual who was once considered to be a citizen of a particular State is arbitrarily no longer considered as such (thereby encompassing both loss and deprivation of nationality as defined in Part II (c) above).88 A. The right to a nationality As the right to a nationality and the prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of nationality are reflected in numerous widely ratified international treaties, all States have obligations to protect this right and uphold this prohibition. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (“ICCPR”) provides in Article 24(3) that “[e]very child has the right to acquire a nationality.” The almost universally ratified CRC specifies in Article 7(1) that “[t]he 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 parents.” The CEDAW provides in Article 9(1) that States party to it “shall grant women equal rights with men to acquire, change or retain their nationality. They shall ensure in particular that neither marriage to an alien nor change of nationality by the husband during marriage shall automatically change the nationality of the wife, render her stateless or force upon her the nationality of the husband.” Article 9(2) of CEDAW provides that “States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men with respect to the nationality of their children.” Article 5 of the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (“CERD”) obligates Parties to guarantee the right of everyone to enjoy certain rights, explicitly including the right to a nationality, without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (“CRPD”) in Article 18 specifies that States Parties shall ensure that persons with disabilities have the right to acquire and change a nationality and are not deprived of nationality on the basis of disability. The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (“ICRMW”) provides in Article 29 that “[e]ach child of a migrant worker shall have the right to a name, to registration of birth and to a nationality.”89 The fundamental nature of the right to a nationality and the prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of nationality was recalled by the General Assembly in Resolution 50/152 of 1996, in which the General Assembly called upon States to “adopt nationality legislation with a view to reducing statelessness, consistent with the fundamental principles of international law, in particular by preventing arbitrary deprivation of 88 See e.g., Human Rights Council, Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality: Report of the SecretaryGeneral, 14 December 2009, A/HRC/13/34, para. 23: “While the question of arbitrary deprivation of nationality does not comprise the loss of nationality voluntarily requested by the individual, it covers all other forms of loss of nationality, including those that arbitrarily preclude a person from obtaining or retaining a nationality, particularly on discriminatory grounds, as well as those that automatically deprive a person of nationality by operation of the law, and those acts taken by administrative authorities that result in a being arbitrarily deprived of a nationality.” 89 International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance 2716 UNTS 3, Article 25(4). UNHCR > GUIDELINES ON STATELESSNESS NO.5 26