 |
|
You are in: Home :: News Story |
NEWS STORY
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
UNICEF welcomes renewed commitment by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army to prevent and end its association with children
|
|
November 23 2009
UNICEF has hailed as a key milestone the signing of a new action plan by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) to end the use of children as soldiers. It is estimated that 1,200 children – both boys and girls – are still associated with the SPLA.
In the action plan signed November 20, the SPLA commits itself to prevent and end the use of children under the age of 18 and to ensure their release and reintegration within a year.
We welcome the signing of this action plan, which marks a renewed commitment by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army to reinforce international standards ending the use of children as soldiers,” said Peter Crowley, Director of UNICEF’s Southern Sudan Area Programme
“The signing of the Action Plan is particularly significant given that it took place on November 20, which was the 20th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child,” Mr Crowley added
The agreement is a time bound commitment by the SPLA to ensure that all children within their ranks are released and reintegrated back into society, he added.
The signing of the action plan was witnessed by Ms Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, during a fact-finding mission to Sudan.
The Action Plan reiterates commitments made by the SPLA at the time of the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, at which time there were about 12,000 child soldiers within the SPLA.
The plan lists a number of concrete measures reinforcing that commitment including agreements to punish those within the SPLA who use and recruit children, to set up Child Protection Units within the ranks of the SPLA and to remove all children from the SPLA payroll to discourage children from remaining in or joining the armed forces. The plan also permits UNICEF and other relevant child protection agencies to monitor and evaluate implementation of the plan.
story url
|
|