United Nations Children Fund or UNICEF Representative in South Sudan urges the government to make child rights the cornerstone of the world’s young nation, welcoming its ratification of the convention on the Rights of the Child.
Jonathan Veitch in a statement says the country became 195th state to ratify the Convention adopted by the UN General Assembly 25 years ago.
He warns that the world’s youngest nation’s future is at risk unless violations of children’s rights are stopped.
The Representative stresses the need to focus on the hundreds of thousands of children left behind struggling to access food, recruited by armed groups and forced to drop out of school because of the conflict.
He says the Convention has the potential to transform South Sudanese children’s lives once implemented and that all children have the right to nutrition, education, improved water and sanitation, protection and health services.
The Representative laments that 680 children were killed and 235 thousand others at risk of suffering from severe acute malnutrition this year, explaining that 400 thousand children were forced to drop out of school, warring parties recruited 13 thousand and 600 thousand need psychological supports.
He urgently appeals for additional funding of 27 million US Dollars to continue its child protection response in South Sudan.