The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) Child Protection Unit in collaboration with the Ministry of General Education organised a 2-day training workshop on Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) on grave violations of children’s rights in situations of armed conflict. Participants of the workshop which included government officials, law enforcement officers, Civil Society Organisations, community and religious leaders as well as women’s groups were sensitized on the six grave violations committed against children in armed conflict. The participants were also trained on national and international legal standards pertaining to the protection of children as well as the South Sudan Child Act of 2008.

More than 50 participants attended the 2-day workshop which took place from 17 to 18 May 2017.

The concept of monitoring and reporting on grave violations at the community level was introduced in order to strengthen the capacity of community members to enable them to support and compliment child protection works in the mainstreaming of monitoring and reporting in their community activities.

Speaking at the workshop, UNMISS Child Protection Officer, Amos Cassell, urged participants to be more proactive in sharing information on child rights and to report violations against children which occur in their local communities to UNMISS Child Protection unit, UNICEF and other child protection actors working in Unity State.

Speaking on behalf of Unity State, Hon. Kuichiang Kuol Gaw, the State Minister of General Education, Child and Social Welfare called on the participants to be child protection mobilizers in their communities in order to stop sexual violence against children and to eliminate early and forced marriages. Hon. Kuol Gaw said that he is confident that participants attending the workshop will share information gained with others who were not present.  

John Mayok, a religious leader attending the workshop, expressed his gratitude to UNMISS for organizing the workshop adding that he hopes that more workshops can be organised in the future. “On behalf of the participants, I say thank you very much UNMISS, we have gained a lot of knowledge regarding Child Protection.”

According to a report released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in December 2016,  some 1,300 children were recruited by armed forces and armed groups in 2016 alone, bringing the total number of children used in the conflict since 2013 to more than 17,000.