UN says ‘childhood under attack’ in South Sudan

By Fatih Erel

GENEVA

More than 19,000 children have been recruited in armed forces and armed groups in South Sudan, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.

"More than 19,000 children have been recruited in the ranks of armed forces and armed groups; and more than 2,300 children have been killed or injured since the conflict first erupted in December 2013, with hundreds of incidents of rape and sexual assault against children having been reported," UNICEF said in a report titled “Childhood under Attack”.

According to the report, more than half of the child population in South Sudan is a victim of malnutrition, diseases, forced recruitment, violence and the loss of schooling.

About three million children in the country are severely food insecure while more than one million children are acutely malnourished and an estimated 900,000 children suffer from psychological distress, the UNICEF said.

Noting that 2.4 million children have been forced from their homes and 2 million children out of school, the UNICEF warned: "if the current situation persists, only one in 13 children are likely to finish primary school."

Since the conflict in South Sudan started in 2013, 95 aid workers have been killed, including 25 killed so far this year.