Children's Charter. Article 3 of the African Children's Charter states that 'every child shall be entitled to the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms recognized and guaranteed in this Charter irrespective 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'. 31.Taking into consideration Sudan's responsibility under the African Children's Charter, the Committee is of the view that determining whether the Republic of Sudan violated article 3 of the African Children's Charter requires a legal and conceptual analysis on the relationship between the right to non-discrimination and the right to acquire a nationality of a child. 32. From the onset, the Committee notes that the right to non-discrimination prescribed under article 3 is a non-derogable right as it does not allow trade-off decisions and practices. This entails that, the protection provided in the provision does not allow a State to deprive the child's right because 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. The Committee takes the view that, if the drafters of the Charter had the intention of making the application of article 3 context-dependent, the article would have contained balancing elements in order to allow a State to engage in discriminatory practices subject to some sort of a balancing test. 1 Article 3 is therefore a general nondiscrimination clause which applies to all substantive rights enshrined in the African Children's Charter including Article 6, which provides protection for the right to nationality of the child. 33.The link between prohibition of discrimination and the right to nationality emanates from the very meaning and benefit of nationality. In defining what 'nationality' is, the Committee aligns itself with the International Court of Justice where it defines nationality as 'a legal bond having its basis a social fact of attachment, a genuine connection of existence, interests and sentiments'.2 Many countries require the existence of such legal bond in order to allow individuals in general and children in particular claim and fully exercise their rights as they are guaranteed in various human rights instruments. Contrary to their obligations under international and regional laws, states sometimes fail to confer nationality to children who have the required social fact of attachment, a genuine connection of existence, interests and sentiments in the states concerned. Such A Bruce, A Commentary on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 2 The Right to Non-Discrimination, 2008, Pp 35. 2 Liechtenstein V Guatemala, The International Court of Justice, 1953, Pp 23. 1 8