The Special Representative of the United Nations or UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict called on the warring parties to release all children they recruited to participate in the going war.
Leila Zerrougui in a statement CRN got on Wednesday said recruitment and use of child soldiers continues to be a major challenge in South Sudan, despite government and the opposition commitments to protect children from the conflict impact.
She said no children were released from the SPLA or opposition forces, adding that they are receiving reports of hundreds of new recruitments of child soldiers.
The Special Representative expressed concern that the children are reportedly receiving training under Commander Johnson Oloni and could be on their way to the frontlines, calling on the government to take action to prevent this from happening.
She also called on government and opposition leaders meeting in Addis Ababa to negotiate peace, urging them to act on their commitments to protect children and include, as a priority, the release of all children.