|
DCOF Country Programs: Sudan
Demobilization and Disarmament Program
Implementing Partners: UNICEF
Funding Period: September 2001 - September 2002
Amount: $500,000
Purpose: Demobilize child soldiers and create
infrastructures to support their continued health and well-being.
Accomplishments:
- Facilitated the demobilization of nearly 85 percent
of the estimated 31,000 child soldiers in southern Sudan.
- Established community centers in five focus areas
that represent the political, geographic, and tribal
diversity of southern Sudan. The total population of the
five areas is approximately one million people.
|
The Sudanese people have lived with civil war
since before their country's independence in 1956.
Religious and political differences fuel the fight between rebels
in the South, who seek greater economic and
political autonomy, and the central government in Khartoum.
From 1972 to 1983, the country enjoyed relative
peace as the South prevailed in securing considerable
self-government. However, when these arrangements
were changed by the Nimeiri Administration in 1983,
the country once again fell into civil strife. Formed in
1983, the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA)
has been fighting for independence from Khartoum's Islamic government for the
past 19 years. Another group, the Sudan People's Democratic Front
(SPDF), formed in response to the collapse of the April
1997 Sudan Peace Agreement, is engaged in the
ongoing struggle for independence as well.
By mid-1999 an estimated 19,000 children under
18 augmented the ranks of the SPLA. In the fall of
2000, the SPLA committed to supporting UNICEF
demobilization efforts after close to a decade of
faltering efforts.
|
In 2001, UNICEF and other organizations brought about a massive
demobilization effort that reunited more than 4,000 child soldiers
with their families or guardians. |
In late 2001 and early 2002, UNICEF turned over direct implementation of
the demobilization efforts to task forces of NGOs, UNICEF, and the military movements such as the SPLA
and SPDF. Both the SPLA and the SPDF operate Task Force
Coordinators Offices, which are given focus areas in which to
conduct demobilization activities. With assistance from
USAID's Displaced Children and Orphans Fund, these
groups carried out a large-scale demobilization of close
to 12,000 child soldiers, bringing the total number
of demobilized children to more than 15,000. With DCOF support, UNICEF
has facilitated the demobilization of nearly 85 percent of the
estimated number of child soldiers in southern Sudan.
Children must have safe havens and healthy alternatives to
conflict in order to survive. Therefore, a component of the
UNICEF demobilization and disarmament program includes the
construction of community centers. These centers consist of a school,
health unit, and water point in areas that receive a large number of
child soldiers. The centers provide an integrated package of
activities and services for youth, women, and other community groups.
Back to Top ^
|
