Darfur armed group promises to stop using child soldiers

Darfur armed group promises to stop using child soldiers

2011-10-06 15:01:12 GMT+7 (ICT)

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) -- One of the major factions fighting in the Sudanese region of Darfur has agreed to prohibit the use of child soldiers following discussions with the joint African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), the organization reported on Thursday.

The Sudan Liberation Army's Historical Leadership, a breakaway group from the armed movement Sudan Liberation Army/Abdel Wahid, submitted an action plan to the United Nations (UN) in which it pledges to end the recruitment and use of child soldiers in compliance with Security Council Resolutions on children and armed conflict.

The group's leader, Usman Musa, previously issued an order in August to his members to prohibit recruiting and using children in the ranks of the movement. His order also prohibited his members from "attacking schools and hospitals and all behavior that leads to abuse and violence against children, including sexual abuse and forced marriage."

Usman Musa told UNAMID that while his group does not systematically recruit children, some had lost their families and sought shelter with his group. Meanwhile, a dialogue is continuing with the armed group for the commitment and implementation of the plan.

In Darfur, 15 armed groups are currently listed by the UN Secretary-General as practicing recruitment or the use of children. From 2009 to February 2011, at least 1,041 former child soldiers were registered in Darfur.

More than two million people, most of them civilians who died due to starvation and drought, were killed during the Second Sudanese Civil War between 1983 and 2005. The war officially ended with the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), but the conflict has nonetheless continued.

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