Unicef: At least 17,000 children recruited as soldiers in S. Sudan since 2013
What you need to know:
The UN has since last month documented at least 50 children who were abducted and recruited in the Greater Upper Nile, with unverified reports that an additional 50 others may have been recruited in the Greater Bahr el Ghazal.
The agency said it had also received reports of grave violations against children committed in the Greater Equatoria.
At least 17,000 child soldiers have been recruited in South Sudan since the outbreak of the civil war in 2013, Unicef said. The UN agency said both the government and the rebel groups were guilty of recruiting child soldiers.
“Since the first day of this conflict, children have been the ones most devastatingly affected by the violations.
“Now, as the fighting intensifies – and despite repeated pledges by all to end child recruitment – children are once again being targeted,” Unicef Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa Leila Gharagozloo-Pakkala said Thursday.
The UN has since last month documented at least 50 children who were abducted and recruited in the Greater Upper Nile, with unverified reports that an additional 50 others may have been recruited in the Greater Bahr el Ghazal. The agency said it had also received reports of grave violations against children committed in the Greater Equatoria.