Fabien Mwingwa once fought as a child soldier with an armed group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Today, he has turned his life around, and works for the UN peacekeeping mission in the country as a firefighter, helping to keep local people safe.
A young mother has been talking about how she was shunned by her community in Uganda when she returned home after being abducted and forced to fight for rebels as a child soldier.
Voicing great concern over a sharp increase in the killing and maiming of children in Mali due to ongoing fighting and instability, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and partners on Tuesday, called on all warring parties to stop attacks and “keep them out of harm’s way”.
A new UN report has found that 2018 was the worst year on record for children caught up in armed conflict; the year saw the highest numbers killed or maimed since the United Nations began monitoring the violation.
The top UN official charged with representing the interests of children caught up in armed conflict, has signed a landmark new agreement on child protection with the Force Commander of a main Syrian opposition military alliance, it was announced on Monday, aimed at ending and preventing the recruitment and use of children under the age of 18.
Since South Sudan became the world's youngest country in 2011, 2.6 million of the 3.4 million babies have been born in war, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) revealed Saturday.
The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict has bemoaned the call of the international community to integrate child soldiers into society without providing the necessary financial resources.
Arguing that there is only a small amount of money for those released, Virginia Gamba flagged one case, which she described as “shameless”, in which 3,000 children were liberated with finances available to support only half of them for six months.
Engagement of regional countries “good thing” for South Sudan peace process
WHO: we can stop genital mutilation of girls
More than 5,000 child recruits were freed from armed groups last year thanks to the efforts of UN peacekeeping missions, a senior official with the world body has reported.
UN Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping El Ghassim Wane said child protection is now “part and parcel” of mission mandates due to two decades of international efforts to protect children caught in conflict situations.
The UN this week commemorated the 20th anniversary of a General Assembly resolution that addresses this issue.
