“The SPLA, by the end of this year, will be child-free.” A bold promise offered up by William Deng, the Chairman of South Sudan’s Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Commission, and one that has been heartily welcomed by the United Nations.
Local leaders in South Sudan pledged to eliminate the use of child soldiers by the end of 2010. The Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) employed more than 23,000 children over the past decade. Of these, 22,000 have been set free. Still, there remain at least 900 children in need of protection, for they are still working within the ranks of the SPLA, says the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Some reports have speculated that there may in fact be thousands remaining.
As the region heads for a referendum on independence from the rest of Sudan next year, the SPLA is working to transform itself from a rebel force to a regular standing army that abides by international and national law. The vote on independence was negotiated under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the conflict in 2005. The CPA, 2008 Child Act and 2009 SPLA Act also disallowed the recruitment of children under 18 years old into armed conflicts.
The SPLA implemented a force unit for child protection in order to help deal with the challenge of demobilization. Addressing this unit, SPLA chief James Hoth Mai said, “We are fighting for our children so that they can enjoy their freedom in their own country, and our future lies with the children.”
Mai also commented that the aftermath of demobilization will prove to be an arduous task – as children newly reintegrated into civilian life will require schooling or vocational training, social services and accommodation in the work force for older youth who may not be able to go back to primary or secondary school.
Virtually since its independence, Sudan has grappled with civil war. The decades long war between the north and the oil-rich south and the conflict in the western Darfur region are two separate conflicts. Both, however, have morphed into “complex emergencies” involving political, military and human rights challenges, human displacement and famine. The war between the north and south is estimated to have displaced four million people and led to the deaths of two million, according to local records.
In Darfur, 2.7 million people have been displaced, according to UNICEF. UN agencies estimate that between 200,000 and 300,000 people have lost their lives. About half of the 4.7 million people affected by the conflict in one way or another are children – 700,000 of them have grown up knowing nothing but war.