A U.N. envoy for children asserted on Tuesday that South Sudan's warring rivals had made a commitment to the world body to halt the practice of recruiting children for use in their ongoing armed conflict.
"I had a meeting with the President [Salva Kiir], and the president has committed to work with the U.N. to end recruitment [of child soldiers] and stop the use of schools by the army," Leila Zerrougui, special representative of the U.N. secretary-general for children and armed conflict, told reporters in Juba on Tuesday.
"Today we signed a commitment to make sure children are not recruited and protect the children from harassment and torture and other issues that affect children in armed conflict," Zerrougui said.
"On our list with the [U.N.] secretary-general on armies recruiting children, the SPLA [Sudan People's Liberation Army] is one of them," she added.
Recent reports by the U.N. children's fund (UNICEF) concerning the conflict in South Sudan revealed that around 9000 children had been recruited as soldiers by both the government and rebel forces affiliated with sacked vice-president Riek Machar.
"We begin the implementation today. The government asked the U.N. to help them identify where the recruitments are for them to work on," Zerrougui said.
"The president assured us that the country's national security forces would vacate any school used for military purposes," she added.
Zerrougui asserted that she had received a similar commitment from rebel leaders.
"I recently got a commitment from the opposition to end the recruitment of children," she said.
"No family accepts their children to be recruited; children flee when there is conflict," she added. "As the United Nations, we will make sure children are not recruited."
She also pointed to rights violations documented during the conflict.
"Attacks on schools, hospitals, maiming, killing, rape and recruitment of children have been documented by the United Nations," she said.
-Action plan-
Zerrougui said Kiir had also pledged to work with the U.N. to implement an action plan that accompanied the signed commitment.
"He also committed to work with the U.N. to fully implement the action plan to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children by the SPLA," she explained. "We will come back to ensure no child is recruited, forcefully or voluntarily."
"We [also] issued a statement three weeks ago to protect schools and hospitals," said Zerrougui. "We will ensure that this [the use of schools and hospitals by combatants] is stopped."
"We need to have political will to work together. To have a commitment that is real, you need to have a professional army," the U.N. envoy stressed. "The projection was by 2016 to end recruitment of children in the government army, but we are behind."
Also present at Tuesday's press conference was U.S. Oscar award-winner Forest Whitaker, who voiced hope that the practice of using child soldiers would be ended in the country definitively.
"I was in Uganda. I saw the burden of being soldiers. I saw child soldiers; I saw the light in their eyes to struggle with life," the actor said. "It is important that the burden on children in the army is removed."
By Okech Francis
englishnews@aa.com.tr
www.aa.com.tr/en
