UN Mission in South Sudan has welcomed the release of more than 300 child soldiers by armed groups in Yambio to reintegrate into their communities and learn new skills.
UNMISS in a statement calls on families and friends to welcome them without any sense of stigma.
It reiterates that children should not be carrying guns and killing each other.
They should be playing, learning, having fun with friends, protected and cherished by the adults around them, David Shearer, head of UNMISS, adds.
It says a total of 700 children have been screened and registered for release in phases.
Over five hundred from the South Sudan National Liberation Movement, SSNLM and more than one hundred associated with the Sudan People’s Liberation Army In-Opposition SPLA-IO.
UNMISS says the first phase of the release project involving three hundred eleven young people marked on Wednesday in a ceremony in Yambio.
Eighty seven of the children released are girls with the final total are expected to reach 220.
‘This is the first time so many young women have been involved in a release like this in South Sudan,’ says David Shearer.
David Shearer mentions the need to ensure the former child soldiers have financial, practical and emotional support to undertake training, find jobs and other opportunities.
The cessation of Hostilities agreement signed between the warring parties in December last year requires the release of all the political and war prisoners including child soldiers.