“The children we enlist in the military are our own children, and we destroy them if this [practice] continues. We must respect them. They must not be allowed to lose their childhoods.”

Residents of the Deng-Nhial area in Rumbek County are jubilant.

“The presence of a police post in Deng-Nhial will help us reduce crime,” says Ms. Yom Derkeny, adding that “law and order will prevail in our community.”

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan has transported more than 20 displaced persons from its protection site in Wau to their homes in Leer, in the Unity region. The new arrivals, mostly women and children, are determined to make a positive mark.