Model legal provisions for the prevention and reduction of statelessness 1. Safeguards against childhood statelessness General safeguard against statelessness at birth (1961 Convention, Article 1) Every person born on the territory of X who would otherwise be stateless is a citizen by birth. Safeguard for foundlings (1961 Convention, Article 2) A child shall be considered a citizen of X if he/she is found on the territory and his/her parents are unknown. Every person born on the territory of X who does not acquire another nationality by origin is a citizen by birth. A foundling found on the territory shall be presumed to have been born therein to parents who are citizens of X. Safeguard against statelessness for children born abroad (1961 Convention, Article 4) A person born abroad to a mother or a father who is a national of X is entitled to X citizenship automatically at birth if that person would otherwise be stateless. A person born abroad to a mother or a father who is a national of X is entitled to X citizenship automatically at birth if that person acquires no other nationality. 2. Gender equality in nationality law Parental transfer of nationality (CEDAW, Article 9(2)) A child acquires X nationality at birth if the father or mother is a citizen of X. Every person born inside or outside the territory of X, to a father or mother who was or would but for their death have been a citizen of X, is a citizen of X by birth. Spousal transfer of nationality (CEDAW, Article 9(1)) The non-national spouse of a national will acquire the citizenship of X following Y years of marriage. The nationality of X can be obtained by spouses of citizens upon application. 34