South Sudan is moving right direction to end child violations including recruitment and use of children, says Virginia Gamba Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.
She said killing and maiming of children, sexual violence, attacks on schools and hospitals; abduction and denial of humanitarian access are the violations committed by the parties to the conflict.
‘This long-awaited commitment to South Sudanese boys and girls by the authorities is the culmination of months of engagement with the principal parties to conflict. It is anticipated that it will contribute to continued decrease of grave violations against children and steady child releases as noted over the past year,’ said the Special Representative during a four-day second visit to South Sudan.
She stresses that peace remains the best protection possible from hostilities for boys and girls and the only road to sustainable development.
The Special Representative says there were grave violations against children, but now, she has observed much improvement.
‘Two years ago, the number of violations that had been reported against children in the country, were horrific. It was possibly, the third largest number of violations in any one of the 19 countries that I monitor and report to the Security Council. I come because the situation has so much improved. There has been a real push from all sides of conflict to understand better how to prevent the six grave violations, the recruitment and use of children, sexual violence, abduction, attacks on schools and hospital which deny children education and health service, killing and maiming of children in any form or way as well denial of humanitarian assistance’.
Gamba says she witnessed the signing of an Action Plan by the parties, including the government to end and prevent all grave violations against children.
She calls for an end to all violations against children in the country.
Gamba expects 2000 children to be released after the formation of the unity government.
‘There has been, last year in particularly, more recruitment from the armed groups in opposition than from the government forces. While before it used to be the other way round. But the figures are much less than ever before. We are going in the right direction. Last year alone, there were about 295 children released and we are expecting about 2000 children might be quite quickly released’, says Gamba.
The Special Representative calls on the civil society organizations to reinstate the released children from armed group.
‘The last word I want to say is a plea to civil society. We need to take the children that have been used and abused by war for years; we need to bring them back to our communities. We need to liberate them from any stigma, but more importantly, we need to provide reintegration, rehabilitation and these cannot last just six months. These children have been traumatized; we need to protect them better’.
Chair of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, Yasmin Sooka, reported early 2019 that rapes, gang rapes, sexual mutilation, abductions and sexual slavery, as well as killings, have become common in South Sudan.