and, on the other hand, by their obligation to prevent, avoid and reduce statelessness. 36.1n line with the current international and regional human rights instruments, the ACERWC has called on States to uphold the principle of non-discrimination as provided in article 3 of the Charter and specified that all criteria established by States relating to acquisition of nationality by children must not distinguish on the basis of the child's or his/her parents' or legal guardians' race, ethnic group, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national and social origin, fortune, birth or other status. 6 The Committee further recommended that African States with discriminatory legal provisions on any of the mentioned grounds should review such provisions and replace them with non-discriminatory provisions.7 37.The Committee would also align itself with the Decision of the Inter American Court of Human Rights regarding the right to nationality, where it noted that ' the jus cogens principle of equal and effective protection of the law and nondiscrimination requires States, when regulating the mechanisms for granting nationality, to abstain from establishing discriminatory regulations or regulations that have discriminatory effects on different groups of a population when they exercise their rights. In addition, States must combat discriminatory practices at all their levels, especially in public entities...'8 38.The prohibition of discrimination on the basis of gender including in transfer/conferral of nationality is one of the non-discrimination standards that puts limits on states under international and regional human rights instruments. The Committee particularly recognises article 9 (2) of CEDAW which states that 'State Parties shall grant women equal rights with men with respect to the nationality of their children.9 In line with the current trend in international and regional human rights instruments on prohibition of gender discrimination in transfer of nationality, the Committee also aligns itself with the position of the ruling of the High Court of Botswana in the Unity Dow case where the Court highlighted how a range of rights of both the woman and her child can be 6 General comment No. 2 on article 6 of the African Charter, the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, 2014, Para 94; and See also Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa and the Open Society Justice Initiative (on behalf of children of Nubian descent in Kenya) V The Government of Kenya, 2011, Par 56. 7 As above 8 Expelled Dominicans and Haitians v. Dominican Republic, The Inter-American Commission, 2014, Par 264. 9 The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Adopted by the Un General Assembly, 1979, Article 9 (2). 1 0