A UN official Sunday said the United Nations inked a plan of action with the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) to demobilize and reintegrate children recruited among its troops.
"We signed a plan of action with the SPLA on Friday. The plan of action calls for release of children for verification by the UN agencies and the reintegration of children according to that," Radhika Coomarswamy, special representative of the UN secretary general for children and armed conflict, told a press conference in Khartoum Sunday.
"We are happy about this on the 20th anniversary of the Child Rights Convention," she said, adding that "this commitment is a milestone in the efforts to end association of children with the SPLA."
"I shall continue to appeal to the SPLA leadership to spare no effort to release and prevent re-association of these children with their armed elements," said Coomarswamy.
She said there were great difficulties on reality of children in South Sudan, particularly the children recruited by the Ugandan Lord Resistance Army (LRA), which launches its operations from South Sudan.
"There is still a large number of children associated with armed groups. We met LRA children and saw their years of suffering, " she said
Coomarswamy started the visit to Sudan on Nov. 15 at an invitation of the Sudanese authorities.
Her talks with the officials of the Sudanese government, South Sudan government and the local governments in the Darfur region focused on the
issue of recruitment of children and their involvement in the armed conflicts together with their demobilization and reintegration in the local communities.