South Sudan: More than 3 out of 4 children born since independence only experienced war

(Belga) Of the 3.4 million babies born since the independence of South Sudan in 2011, 2.6 million have always lived in a country at war, denounces Unicef ​​Sunday, the eve of the seventh birthday of the youngest nation in the world. Enrollment of children in armed groups, de-schooling and hunger have plagued the country since its earliest years.

Shortly after independence, South Sudan descended into a civil war when its president Salva Kiir, the Dinka ethnic group, accused late December 2013 its vice president Riek Machar, a Nuer, to stage a coup. From 500 when the conflict erupted, the number of child soldiers used as fighters, cooks, transporters, messengers or bad slaves has risen to about 19,000 currently, according to estimates by the United Nations Children's Fund. These take into account the 800 miners released since the beginning of the year. South Sudan also has the highest rate of out-of-school children. Some two million children (70% of young people of school age) do not use school benches. One school in three has been destroyed, occupied or closed since 2013. More than one million children also suffer from malnutrition, of which 300,000 to a severe degree, still points the international organization, while famine threatens in some areas of the country. Finally, more than 2.5 million South Sudanese, including one million children, have fled their homelands since the beginning of the violence to seek refuge in neighboring countries. "Rival factions can and must do more to bring peace," said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta H. Fore. "The signing in Khartoum of a permanent ceasefire between the two warring parties last month is a step forward in an unstable peace process, and we are counting on everyone to respect it. from South Sudan simply can not endure more suffering. " (Belga)