South Sudan

Wed

Mar

2015

South Sudan: Government Forces Recruiting Child Soldiers

New translation available

Submitted by hannah

Both Sides Should Stop Using Children Across Conflict Area

February 16, 2015

(Nairobi) – South Sudanese government forces are actively recruiting boys as young as 13, often by force, as soldiers in Malakal, Upper Nile state,...

Thu

Apr

South Sudan: More than 200 child soliders released

Submitted by antimili-youth on Thu, 26/04/2018 - 20:03

Two hundred and seven child soldiers have been released by armed groups in South Sudan, part of a series of planned discharges that should see nearly 1,000 children return home over the coming months.

The move, facilitated by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), follows the release of 300 children by armed groups in early February.

The discharge took place in Bakiwiri, a rural community in Western Equatoria state.

The children will now undergo medical screenings and receive counselling and psychosocial support as part of the reintegration programme, said UNICEF. Once home, they will also have access to vocational training as well as age-specific education services in schools and accelerated learning centres.

Wed

Jan

South Sudan: More than 17,000 children used in conflict since 2013

Submitted by antimili-youth on Wed, 04/01/2017 - 16:01

Three years after fighting first erupted in South Sudan, children continue to be recruited by armed forces and armed groups, with 1,300 children recruited in 2016, UNICEF said today. This brings to more than 17,000 the total number of children used in the conflict since 2013.

“Since the first day of this conflict, children have been the ones most devastatingly affected by the violations,” said UNICEF’s Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Leila Gharagozloo-Pakkala.

At least 30 children abducted by rebels in South Sudan - report

Submitted by antimili-youth on Sun, 30/10/2016 - 14:29

News24

At least 30 children from two different schools in Amadi have been abducted by a rebel group linked to ousted South Sudan's vice president Riek Machar, a report said on Friday.

According to BBC, Amadi state governor Joseph Ngere said that around 150 rebels from the SPLM-IO group attacked the two schools early this week. He was, however, only made aware of the attack on Wednesday.

Ngere said that at least 300 children were at the two schools and many fled into the bushes. However, Machar's spokesperson Andrew Kuong denied the claims. "Our rules and regulation do not allow anything like that," Kuong was quoted as saying.

Thu

Oct

South Sudan: 145 child soldiers released - Unicef

Submitted by antimili-youth on Thu, 27/10/2016 - 02:46

Some 145 child soldiers fighting for two rebel groups in South Sudan have been released, Unicef has announced.

The children were recruited by the Cobra Faction and the SPLA In Opposition, two armed groups which have been fighting the government.

They were freed in the eastern region of Pibor and "disarmed and provided with civilian clothes," Unicef said in a statement.

About 16,000 children are still in "armed groups", it says.

Read the full article here.

This is an article which appears on BBC News.

Photo: Credits: Pierre Holtz | UNICEF CAR | www.hdptcar.net

Wed

Jun

Five countries where child soldiers are still recruited

Submitted by antimili-youth on Wed, 29/06/2016 - 15:07

By Jared Ferrie, Irin News

Colombia’s largest guerrilla group has agreed to release all of its soldiers under age 15. It is a move welcomed by child rights groups but it also highlights the continued use of child soldiers in conflicts around the world.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) made the pledge during talks in Cuba aimed at ending its five-decade war against successive governments. The administration of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC now need to decide upon the terms under which the child soldiers will be reintegrated into civilian life.

Tue

Dec

As Civil War Rages in South Sudan, Kids Struggle to Hold On to Their Youth

Submitted by antimili-youth on Tue, 15/12/2015 - 13:12

Nonviolent Peaceforce staff members gather with a group of children in Ulang. (Photo: Fellipe Abreu)

By Fellipe Abreu, TakePart

At least 16,000 children have been recruited into the military since the conflict began in 2013.

As herds of cattle come and go on a narrow trail across a row of huts made from straw, mud, and wood, they pass a boy of about 15 sleeping in a chair near the main entrance. He is wearing black pants, rubber sandals, and an Ethiopian soccer team shirt. In his lap: an AK-47 rifle folding stock.

Fri

Oct

Forced cannibalism, child soldiers scar South Sudan war - African Union

Submitted by antimili-youth on Fri, 30/10/2015 - 17:29

By Edith Honan

NAIROBI (Reuters)- Forced cannibalism, mutilation of bodies, conscription of child soldiers and other human rights abuses have marked the war in South Sudan and may amount to violations of international law, an African Union (AU) report said on Wednesday.

Fighting broke out in the world's youngest nation in December 2013, less than three years after it won independence from Sudan, between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir against those allied with his former deputy Riek Machar.

The conflict in the oil-producing but severely impoverished country, which has often pitted Kiir's ethnic Dinka community against Machar's Nuer people, has killed over 10,000 people and displaced more than 2 million.

The United Nations said earlier this month that starvation conditions afflicted parts of the country, affecting some 30,000 people, and that South Sudan faced a concrete risk of famine by the end of 2015.

Tue

Jun

250,000 children starving in South Sudan: UN

Submitted by antimili-youth on Tue, 16/06/2015 - 17:31

A quarter of a million children face starvation in war-torn South Sudan, with an end to the 18-month conflict as distant as ever, the expelled UN aid chief warned Tuesday.

"Six months ago, we thought that violence and suffering had peaked and that peace was on the horizon. We were wrong," said Toby Lanzer, who was barred from the country earlier this month after warning of economic meltdown.

"Political intransigence left peace ever more distant; war raged on and is leading to economic collapse."

Civil war began in December 2013 when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of planning a coup, setting off a cycle of retaliatory killings across the country that has split the poverty-stricken, landlocked country along ethnic lines.

It has been characterised by ethnic massacres, rape and the use of child soldiers.

Tue

Mar

Nine-year-old girl in record release of South Sudan child soldiers

Submitted by hannah on Tue, 24/03/2015 - 16:55

By Katy Migiro

NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A nine-year-old girl was among hundreds of child soldiers freed in South Sudan over the last three days, part of the largest ever release of child fighters in the world's youngest nation, the United Nations said on Monday.

It is the third release by the South Sudan Democratic Army (SSDA) Cobra Faction since its leader David Yau Yau signed a peace deal with the government in May.

Read more at Reuters

Image: Afronline

Mon

Jan

South Sudan conflict ‘devastating’ for country’s children – UN report

Submitted by hannah on Mon, 05/01/2015 - 15:44

30 December 2014 – The conflict in South Sudan has seriously hampered the protection of children, increasing their vulnerability dramatically, says a new report published this week by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The first report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in South Sudan documents grave violations of children’s rights committed since the African nation seceded from Sudan in 2011.

More specifically, it takes stock of how children have been affected by the conflict during the period from 1 March 2011 to 30 September 2014, documenting the following six grave violations committed against children: killing and maiming, recruitment and use, sexual violence, abduction, attacks against schools and hospitals, and denial of humanitarian access.

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Countering Military Recruitment

WRI's new booklet, Countering Military Recruitment: Learning the lessons of counter-recruitment campaigns internationally, is out now. The booklet includes examples of campaigning against youth militarisation across different countries with the contribution of grassroot activists.

You can order a paperback version here.