Eleven children have been released from military ranks in South Sudan’s Warrap and Western Equatoria states with support from UNICEF and partners, officials said.
In Twic County, Warrap State, authorities received six boys
aged 11 to 12 after they were removed from military training in Juba following
identification as underage recruits.
Twic County Executive Director Joseph Ngong Ngondit said the
children were handed over at the county headquarters in Turalei on Monday in
the presence of the county commissioner and officials from the gender and
social welfare directorate.
“These boys mobilized themselves in a group and moved to a
military base, which is Division 11, last year, and decided to join SSPDF
training in Majak Tit, where they were taken in a large recruitment,” Ngong
Ngondit said.
“UN agencies later learned of the matter, moved to the
barracks, and found them to be underage and not qualified to be trained as
soldiers. They were then collected.”
In a separate incident in Yambio, Western Equatoria State,
five children associated with the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF)
Brigade 16 were released through a disarmament, demobilization and
reintegration (DDR) programme supported by UNICEF and the United Nations
Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
The children were handed over to state authorities for
psychosocial support, education and reintegration programmes, according to
Radio Miraya FM.
Officials said the releases are part of ongoing efforts to
keep children out of armed forces and prevent re-recruitment.
Child protection agencies, including UNICEF, say children in South Sudan remain vulnerable to recruitment by armed forces and armed groups and have called for sustained protection and reintegration support.