15 March 2012 - Even with an austerity budget, education was vital if South Sudan was to flourish, a top UN official specializing in children said today in the South Sudanese capital of Juba.

"It is only the presence of effective social programmes that will prevent children from being lured into armed militias," said Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Children and Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy.

During her visit to the country, which began on 11 March, Ms. Coomaraswamy met with President Salva Kiir Mayardit, who reaffirmed the commitment of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) to release all children from their ranks.

The commitment took the form of an "action plan", signed in Juba by the Ministry of Defence, UNMISS, UNICEF, and Ms. Coomaraswamy on 12 March. The agreement also ensures that militias currently being incorporated into the SPLA are child-free.

While in Juba, SRSG Coomaraswamy also met with South Sudan DDR Commissioner William Deng Deng to emphasize the importance of child disarmament, demobilization, and re-integration.

In another meeting in Juba with non-governmental organizations and UN partners, she stressed that child abduction was fuelling the conflict between the Lou Nuer and Murle communities in Jonglei State.

"It is important that the best interest of the child is at the heart of any reconciliation," SRSG Coomaraswamy said.

On 14 March, she travelled to Malakal and Renk, Upper Nile State, to assess first-hand the status of returnee children from Sudan to South Sudan.

In Malakal, Deputy Governor Andrea Maya told SRSG Coomaraswamy that the government was faced with many challenges, but would keep children at the forefront.

"Upper Nile State is a door for returnees to come back to South Sudan," the deputy governor said. "The people come in big numbers and our capacity in the state is very limited. We are expecting more people in one month's time."

UN humanitarian partners are deeply concerned that the number of returnees will increase drastically in the next few weeks. At present they are housed in makeshift camps with only minimal basic services.

While in Renk, SRSG Coomaraswamy met with Commissioner Deng Akuei as well as children in a camp for returnees from Sudan.

"The international community must be on alert for the possibility of a large scale humanitarian crisis and resources should be mobilized to ensure that children returning from Sudan are given the proper care and protection," SRSG Coomaraswamy said.

In a meeting with SPLA Commander Major General Angelo Jok Kuck in Renk, she reinforced the message of the action plan signed in Juba to ensure that no children were associated with the SPLA in Upper Nile, a state that rests between the volatile Sudanese states of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile.