A UN special representative welcomes the start of the discharge of nearly 3,000 child soldiers serving in the Maoist army in Nepal's decade-long civil war, a UN press release said here on Friday.
The first group of young people discharged were verified as children in 2007, which subsequently disqualify them from the Maoist army, said the press release by the office for Radhika Coomaraswamy, UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon's special representative for children and armed conflict.
The discharge from seven Maoist cantonments is to be completed within 40 days where the young people will be briefed by the UN on how to start
their new lives and given the necessary support to return to school or to gain new skills -- all part of a rehabilitation process by the government
and backed by the UN.
In December 2008, the special representative had gone to Nepal to help plant the Action Plan which has led to the discharge agreement signed by the Nepalese government, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal--Maoist (UCPN-M) and the UN.
"Today, the minors who have spent the last three years in Maoist army cantonments with their lives on hold will finally be able to take the next
step towards a more positive future," Coomaraswamy said in the press release issued by her office.