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Press ReleaseUNICEF Returns Former Child Soldiers HomeFive Months After Demobilization By Rebels, a Fresh Start for 3,480 boys NAIROBI / GENEVA / NEW YORK, 29 August 2001 - Almost 3,500 children who as recently as five months ago were acting as soldiers in Sudan's civil war have returned to their communities and families in southern Sudan with high hopes for a fresh start in life. The move home - completed over the last few days - marked the end of a five-month transition period in which the children were cared for by UNICEF and a coalition of aid groups. All but 70 of the 3,551 child soldiers, who were released by the Sudan People's Liberation Army in February 2001 and then temporarily moved by the UN from the conflict zone of Bahr el Ghazal, have now been returned to their original home communities. The seventy boys still left come from inaccessible areas or places of chronic instability. They are being cared for at a camp near Rumbek run by the organization Samaritan's Purse.
The children had been demobilized by the SPLA in fulfillment of a pledge the rebel group had made to Carol Bellamy, the Executive Director of UNICEF, during a visit to southern Sudan in October 2000. "Two weeks before world leaders meet in New York for a UN summit on children, this proves once again that the willing cooperation of people of influence can bring an end to the appalling use of children as soldiers," Bellamy said today. "Let's hope these children and young people get the full fresh start they deserve - and that world leaders are inspired by this example of action for children, even in the midst of conflict. "These children are among the lucky ones," Bellamy added. "Their demobilization was hard-won but decisive, their relocation on WFP planes was extraordinary, and their stay in the transit camps preparing to return home was rewarding for all of us. I applaud the support of WFP, aid organizations, donors, and community leaders on the ground who gave their all to making this effort a success." The majority of the children were flown over a six-day period ending Sunday to airstrips in Bahr el Ghazal aboard transport aircraft operated by the World Food Programme. "We were very happy to be a partner in this ground breaking operation," Masood Hyder, the Director of WFP's Sudan Country Program, said. "We re-scheduled a number of activities so the relocation could happen as quickly and smoothly as possible. Our people saw real happiness in the faces of the children when they knew the planes had arrived to take them home"
"The children were absorbed right back into their communities," said Ushari Mahmoud, a UNICEF Child Protection officer. "We worked closely with community leaders, and it paid off. This part of southern Sudan has an ordered social hierarchy where every family is known, and we've worked within this system to make sure the children get home as quickly as possible." One of the children, 12-year-old Peter Mawien, arrived to an emotional greeting from his cousins, aunt and uncle who carried him home and rubbed ash on his arms, legs and face, a tradition said to chase away evil spirits. After his welcome, Peter said: "I'm so happy and excited to be home. I've been away for so long… I want to take up the pen and go to school to study. I will only have a future if I can get an education." UNICEF and partner organisations such as International Rescue Committee, Radda Barnen, and Save the Children UK are working to improve conditions in the home areas so that the return brings benefits for all children. Additional resources have been allocated for education, health and water in these districts. UNICEF has ordered 90 large tents to be used as temporary classrooms and health clinics. These will be set up wherever they are most needed. Partner agencies operating in the communities are following up to ensure that each child is being cared for in a home. While in the transit camps, 72 of the better educated young people were given training to work as primary school teaching assistants. Forty others were trained as water pump mechanics, and others received training in food cultivation. Around 90 have been given special teaching to promote better hygiene and sanitation, as well as HIV/AIDS awareness. Dr. Sharad Sapra, the head of UNICEF operations in southern Sudan, said there was more work to be done. "This is not the end. We need to focus on supporting the communities these children have gone home to, both to ease the general suffering and to make it less likely children will ever be recruited again. And there are still some 4,000 children in the SPLA awaiting demobilization. We have to learn from this experience and begin working on getting those children home too." *** Note to broadcasters: UNICEF's latest video b-roll, "Making a World Fit for Children," features a story about the demobilization and return home of 12-year-old Peter Mawien and other child soldiers. To order a copy of the tape or to read the script and shotlist, please visit www.unicef.org/broadcast/brolls/specialsession. You can also order a copy of the tape from your local UNICEF office or from www.thenewsmarket.com.
In the course of the transit phase…
…giving a ratio of one responsible adult for every seven children. Over the five-month operation UNICEF ensured the provision of sufficient shelter materials, 660 metric tonnes of staples such as maize and oil, along with 240 cattle. Approximately 200 of the returnees have not gone back to their immediate families, either because they are orphans with no close living relative or because their families have been displaced. These children have been taken in by communities and allocated to families by chiefs, as is usual under traditional provisions for the care of vulnerable children. This reflects both the Dinka community's normal view as expressed in their saying, "a child is a child of everyone," and the concern of humanitarian workers not to put children into institutions. * * * For further information, please contact: Martin Dawes,
UNICEF Nairobi (Operation Lifeline Sudan) Lynn Geldof,
UNICEF Geneva, lgeldof@unicef.org Alfred Ironside,
UNICEF Media, New York, aironside@unicef.org *** UNICEF
urges demobilization/reintergration of child soldiers Tues.
29 Oct. 2001
2000 Sudan rebels give UNICEF a guarantee
on child soldiers, Oct 24 To the
Humanitarian Issues Working Group: the catastrophe in Kosovo Tues.
6 Apr
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These
children are among the lucky ones.Their demobilization was hard-won
but decisive, their evacuation on WFP planes was extraordinary,
and their stay in the transit camps preparing to return home was
rewarding for all of us.