ChaChapter 1: Nationality and Statelessness the renunciation, loss or deprivation of nationality in later life does not leave a person stateless.29 Around the world, regional instruments also include norms relating to the right to a nationality. This is the case for the MENA region as well, where a number of treaties expressly recognise the right to a nationality. Some of these are also explicit in their instruction that statelessness should be avoided, especially among children, even providing pointers as to where the responsibility for this lies. For example, in accordance with the Covenant on the Rights of the Child in Islam, adopted in 2005, states shall “make every effort to resolve the issue of statelessness for any child born on their territories or to any of their citizens outside their territory”.30 This point of departure – that states are responsible for preventing statelessness where a child is born on their territory or to one of their nationals – echoes the norms which have developed at the level of the UN, in particular in the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.31 29 - For a more detailed explanation of the purpose and content of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, UNHCR, Preventing and Reducing Statelessness: The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, September 2010, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/4cad866e2.html. 30 - Emphasis added. Article 7, second section, Covenant on the Rights of the Child in Islam. 31 - See its articles 1-4 and the UNHCR, Guidelines on Statelessness No. 4: Ensuring every child’s right to acquire a nationality through articles 1-4 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, 21 December 2012. 31