UN trains SSPDF officers on child rights violations

JUBA – The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has trained officers from the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF), police, prisons, and government officials on six grave violations, including child recruitment.

The training, which began on Tuesday and concluded on Thursday in Northern Bahr El Gazal state, aimed to raise awareness about issues such as sexual violence, killing, maiming, attacks on schools and hospitals, and the recruitment of children into armed forces.

Elizabeth Karjella, a UNMISS representative, urged participants to prioritize the protection of children’s rights and to ensure that children under the age of 18 are not recruited into the army.

Ajou Kuek, the head of National Disarmament, Demobilization, and Rehabilitation Commission for Northern Bahr El Gazal state, emphasized the need to demobilize child soldiers and reintegrate them with their families.

“It is a primary responsibility for all children to be delisted from the army and they have to be reintegrated and reunified with their families. As it is a national responsibility for the government to demobilize the children,” Kuek said.

He added that the current peace agreement highlights the need for a task force to monitor and report on child recruitment.

“It is a national duty for all officers to ensure that children need to be identified and get reunited as all children protection partners need to be keen enough to remove children from all armed forces,” Kuek said.

UNMISS also reiterated its mandate to protect civilians, create a conducive environment for humanitarian assistance, and support the implementation of the peace agreement.