Photo Credit|UNMISS

49 children have been released from military training centers in Upper Nile, Ruweng Administrative Area, and Western Equatoria State, according to the South Sudan National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) Commission.

The Commission Chairperson, General Ayuen Alier, said the releases took place between April and June this year following engagement missions to the affected areas.

He said 33 children were released from Upper Nile, 21 from Ruweng, and 5 from Yambio in Western Equatoria State.

General Alier called for stronger joint efforts to end the recruitment of children into armed forces, saying sustained commitment from all stakeholders is needed to achieve progress.

He added that the overall goal is for South Sudan to be removed from the United Nations Security Council list of parties responsible for grave violations against children.

“Between April and June this year, I led a high-level delegation to Upper Nile State and Ruweng Administrative Area, with another delegation proceeding to Western Equatoria State.

This engagement resulted in the release of 49 children, 23 from Upper Nile military training in Malakal, 21 from the military training center in Pariang, and 5 from the former SPLA-IO forces that integrated into the SSPDF in Yambio,” General Alier said.

He further called on the Ministry of Defense and Veterans Affairs and the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) leadership to ensure accountability for commanders involved in the recruitment of children.

“It comes upon yourselves, the division commanders, to take responsibility and not allow junior officers to infiltrate children into your ranks. I am asking the Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs and the Chief of Defence Forces to find a modality of punishing any division that holds any child,” he added.