Children in South Sudan are continuously exposed to harmful social and cultural practices.
UN Children agency or UNICEF country representative Yasmin Ali Haque said children face harmful practices including child marriage, abduction, labour, the use of girls as blood compensation.
She said ‘when children are exposed to violence they are not only left with physical wounds but also mental scars.’
Dr Haque added that ‘these mental scars affect their physical and mental health, compromises their ability to learn and socialize and undermines their development.’
She called for collective responsibility to recognize violence against children, join global, national or local movements to end it and bring together new ideas to collectively focus on ending violence against children.
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Liam Neeson said the agency is changing with the launch of a global initiative ‘End Violence against Children’ because violence against children is often unseen, unheard and underreported.
UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said ‘in every country, in every culture, there is violence against children.’