United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict has welcomed the release of two hundred and forty nine children formerly operating with David Yau Yau’s South Sudan Democratic Army or SSDA/M Cobra Faction.
In a statement CRN obtained on Wednesday Leila Zerrougui disclosed that all the recruited children are expected to be freed in the coming weeks.
She said she met David Yau Yau in June 2014 at Gumuruk and saw child soldiers associated with his armed group and that he expressed willingness to work with United Nations to release them.
The Special Representative said Children Fund or UNICEF and its partners were establishing massive response necessary to provide protection services to children from the Cobra Faction to connect with their families and rebuild lives.
She said the children would need months or years to recover from what they went through because some were recruited in the middle of conflict as young as 11 years old.
The Special Representative called on the international community to provide sufficient resources to ensure they have access to support to heal and return to a peaceful life.