DROI Chair Elena Valenciano welcomes the release of children from armed groups in South Sudan and calls for adequate funding to secure their reintegration

By European Parliament

STRASBOURG, France, January 28, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The Chair of the EP Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI), MEP Elena Valenciano (S&D, Spain) welcomed the release of the first group of 280 children out of approximately 3 000 in total from a South Sudanese armed group.

"I welcome the fact that these boys could finally give up their uniforms and weapons, and will hopefully be able to go to school soon.

In order to fully support UNICEF's efforts to ensure a successful reintegration of these children I trust that the EU will continue to ensure adequate funding, especially in the long-run. I call also on EU Member States to contribute to this programme.

Assisting these children to rebuild their lives - reuniting them with their families, providing psychological support, reintegrating them in their local communities and preventing future recruitment - requires long-term commitment from all donors. Therefore I hope that the UNICEF appeal for additional support of $ 10 million will be met shortly. "

Background

On 3 December 2014 the Subcommittee on Human Rights, together with the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), held a hearing on Children associated with armed conflicts, with the participation of Ms Leila Zerrougui, the UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Children Affected by Armed Conflict and Ms Yoka Brandt, Deputy Executive Director, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Members expressed their full support for the UNICEF -lead campaign "Children, Not Soldiers".

Additional information:

Programme of the AFET/DROI hearing "Children, Not Soldiers", 3 December 2014

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2014_2019/documents/droi/dv/70_prgchildrennotsoldiers_/70_prgchildrennotsoldiers_en.pdf

Video recording of the DROI hearing

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/ep-live/en/committees/video?event=20141203-1500-COMMITTEE-DROI-AFET

UNICEF campaign Children, Not Soldiers

https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/children-not-soldiers/