24 January 2014 - When shooting began in Juba on 15 December 2013, Mary Nyapel was sleeping in her house near the national army’s headquarters in Juba, unaware that the gunfire would change her life.

“My husband was killed in front of our children,” said the mother of five, who currently lives in a small make-shift tent in the UNMISS protection site in Tomping. “When the children saw this, they ran away from the house thinking that both of their parents had been killed. It was hard for our children to see the blood of their father.”

Ms. Nyapel survived, but with injuries to both legs she could not escape, and stayed in her home with her two youngest children.

“I spent three days without seeing my (other) children,” she recounts. “I did not know where they were, but an UNMISS staff brought me here and later on I was reunited with my children.”

Apparently, another woman from her neighbourhood took Ms. Nyapel’s children with her as she and thousands of other civilians sought refuge in the mission’s base.

Ms. Nyapel’s story is similar to others in the camp, where UNMISS, UNICEF and the non-governmental organization Non-Violent Peace Force are working together to respond to different child protection challenges.

“We are … involved in reunification of children separated from their families (and) in family tracing,” said UNMISS Child Protection Officer Bado Datar.

According to a UNICEF report issued on 5 January, 210 separated or unaccompanied children have been identified in UN camps in Juba. While the more fortunate ones like Ms. Nyapel have been reunited with their children, the report noted that there were still 87 cases of missing children.

Close to Ms. Nyapel’s tent, a father walked around with a photo of his missing son in his pocket. As they escaped fighting in Juba, the little boy somehow got separated from his mother.

“I have a problem,” he said, explaining that he and his family had only just returned to South Sudan from Israel. Now it seemed that dreams of settling in their peaceful, independent nation had been shattered, but even worse, they’d lost a child.

Other children have been reported missing in camps across the country, the report said. In Awerial, Lakes State, a total of 97 unaccompanied children were identified and registered. Eight were reunified with their parents, while protection partners worked out a foster care system for others.

UNMISS and UNICEF organized an advocacy programme in Juba UN House this week to raise awareness about issues of recruiting children into armed forces and reporting on grave child rights violations.