Recommended article: Chomsky: We Are All – Fill in the Blank.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.
Thursday 12 Feb 2015 - 11:37 Makkah mean time-23-4-1436  Demobilized child soldiers, S. Sudan. Photo: UNICEF/Mariantonietta Peru Juba (IINA) – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has overseen the release of another 300 children from an armed group in South Sudan – the second such UN-backed demobilization of child soldiers in less than a month.
“For every child released, it is the chance for a new life,” UNICEF South Sudan Representative Jonathan Veitch stated in a press release issued Wednesday.
Two weeks ago, an initial group of 249 children, ranging from 11 to 17 years of age, was released by the South Sudan Democratic Army (SSDA) Cobra Faction at the village of Gumuruk in Jonglei state. The release was marked by a ceremony overseen by UNICEF and the South Sudan National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Commission, during which the child soldiers reportedly surrendered their weapons and uniforms. Further phased releases of the other children are planned over the coming month.
According to the UNICEF, some of the child soldiers have been fighting since four years and many have never attended school. In the last year alone, 12,000 children, mostly boys, have been recruited and used as soldiers by armed forces and groups in South Sudan as a whole.
AB/IINA
|
No comments:
Post a Comment