Exploring the Interface Between Birth Registration and Citizenship Determination: A Scoping Study in Seven Countries in Southern Africa 3. Literature Review a. International Human Rights Obligations The right to birth registration and the right to citizenship (also referred to as “nationality” in legal documents)3 are fundamental human rights. These rights are set out in Article 24 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),4 Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.5 These rights are also enshrined in the African Union’s Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Specific Aspects of the Right to Citizenship and the Eradication of Statelessness in Africa6 (ACHPR Protocol on eradication of statelessness in Africa), which will come into force after ratification by 15 AU member states. The relevant provisions of these conventions state as follows: Article 24 of the ICCPR: 1. Every child shall have, without any discrimination as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, national or social origin, property or birth, the right to such measures of protection as are required by his status as a minor, on the part of his family, society and the State. 2. Every child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have a name. 3. Every child has the right to acquire a Nationality. Article 7 of the CRC: 1. The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a citizenship 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 international instruments in this field, in particular where the child would otherwise be stateless. Article 15 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights: 1. Everyone has the right to a nationality. 2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality. Article 6 of the ACERWC, on Name and Nationality: 1. Every child shall have the right from his birth to a name. 2. Every child shall be registered immediately after birth. 3. Every child has the right to acquire a nationality. 4. States Parties shall undertake to ensure that their constitutional legislation recognizes the principles according to which a child shall acquire the nationality of the State in whose territory they were born, if at the time of the child’s birth they are not granted nationality by any other State in accordance with its laws. 9