South Sudan: SPLA Commits to Making the National Army Child-Free
Juba — The Sudanese People's Liberation Army
of South Sudan (SPLA) signed an agreement called an action plan with the
United Nations today which renewed their commitment to release all
children within their ranks.
This new action plan, signed by the Ministry of Defence, the United
Nations Peacekeeping in South Sudan (UNMISS), UNICEF, and Special
Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict,
Radhika Coomaraswamy, also ensures that all militias currently being
incorporated into the SPLA are child-free.
Since 2005, the SPLA has been listed on the United Nations
Secretary-General's list of parties to conflict who recruit and use
children. Although this action plan is a renewal of commitments made in
2009, the SPLA, as a national army, is signing for the first time.
"This is an important day for South Sudan---the world's newest
country. Not only does this action plan ensure the Government's
commitment that the SPLA will have no children within its ranks, but all
armed groups who have accepted amnesty with the Government must also
release their children," said SRSG Coomaraswamy during her remarks at
the signing ceremony in Juba. "For this agreement to make a real
difference for children, implementation is a must."
Dr.Yasmin Ali Haque, Representative of UNICEF in South Sudan echoed
SRSG Coomaraswamy's remarks. "This is an excellent example of the newest
nation's army moving in the right direction concerning the protection
and well-being of children in South Sudan. The next step is to ensure
that the reintegration of these children is successful and sustainable,"
she added.
The action plan ensures that a transparent system is in place for
disciplinary action against those in command who recruit children within
the SPLA. It also improves communication among commanders to make sure
that the practice of child recruitment is halted and responsibility for
child protection is understood on all levels. Finally, the agreement
institutionalizes child protection within the SPLA.
"The children of South Sudan have witnessed so many horrors in this
decades-old conflict and many have grown up in war. I urge the
Government to implement the commitments made today and to make certain
that, in this new country, future generations of children can spend
their childhood with books and not in barracks," Coomaraswamy said.
The signing ceremony takes place on the first day of SRSG
Coomaraswamy's visit to South Sudan. Her mission will include field
visits to Jonglei where she hopes to meet with the Lou Nuer and Murle
communities to discuss child protection issues including child soldiers
and child abduction, an update of activity of the Lord's Resistance Army
in South Sudan, and the status of returnees from Sudan.
Today's signing follows similar agreements in 2011 with the Afghan
National Security Forces, the Chadian National Army, and with the Armée
populaire pour la restauration de la République et la démocratie (APRD)
and the Convention des patriotes pour la justice et la paix (CPJP) in
the Central African Republic.
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