JUBA, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Virginia Gamba, UN special representative of the secretary-general for children and armed conflict, on Wednesday started her four-day visit to South Sudan for the first time since taking office in 2017.
The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said Gamba will hold meetings with political actors, non-governmental organizations and religious leaders as well as members of the UN family to discuss opportunities to strengthen the protection of children.
It disclosed that a particular focus will be the importance of strong reintegration programs for demobilized children and the need for donor funding to support such initiatives.
"The SRSG will discuss the challenges of implementing two Action Plans in Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA-2012) and SPLA-in opposition (SPLA-IO-2015) which are designed to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict and other grave violations," UNMISS said in a statement issued in Juba.
UNMISS said Gamba will also travel to Yambio, located South of the capital in the Western Equatoria region to see first-hand the challenges created by ongoing violations perpetrated against children by parties to the conflict.
Over 900 children have been released from armed groups since February in the Yambio area and are receiving counseling and psychosocial support as part of the reintegration program, which is implemented by UNICEF and partners.
In 2001, the UN Security Council through its Resolution 1379 requested the Secretary-General to attach an annex to his report on children and armed conflict, in which he would list parties to conflict who recruit and use children in situations on the Security Council's agenda.
In his latest Annual Report (2017), the UN Secretary-General has listed three parties in South Sudan including the SPLA listed for recruitment and use, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence and abduction of children, the SPLA-IO rebels allied to former First Vice President Riek Machar for recruitment and use and killing and maiming of children.
The White Army, a local militia largely composed of Nuer youth fighting alongside SPLA-IO, are listed for the recruitment and use of children.
South Sudan signed an action plan in 2012 to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children by the SPLA to which it recommitted in 2014 with additional commitments to end all grave violations against children.
In December 2015, the SPLA-IO signed an Action Plan to end and prevent child recruitment and use as well as killing and maiming of children.
An action plan is a written, signed commitment between the UN and parties to conflict listed in the secretary-general's annual report on children and armed conflict.
