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UNICEF Awards NP Million-Dollar Grant for Child Protection in Southern Sudan

Date: April 1, 2011

diary34Life is hard in southern Sudan.* Extremely hard if you’re a child. The legacy of war, extreme poverty, kidnapping, forced soldier recruitment and sexual enslavement are just some of the realities children face here.

To help make life safer for those most at risk, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) awarded Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) a $1,000,000 grant on March 15th to launch a child protection program. One of the largest investments ever for NP, this funding is a major vote of confidence in our ability to provide meaningful protection to vulnerable children.

Sri Lankan native Aseervathan Florington (See “Diary of a Peacekeeper”) helped pioneer NP’s child protection work in his homeland and will lead our efforts in southern Sudan. In partnership with UNICEF, we will establish a new field site serving Nzara, Yambio and Ezo Counties in Western Equatoria state, where years of conflict and ongoing violence have devastated children’s lives. The program will also have a needed presence in Juba, southern Sudan’s chief city.

 

sudan mapRebel bands attached to the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) — a major culprit of childhood hardship in Western Equatoria — roam the bush, savagely attacking rural communities, killing adults, and kidnapping boys for soldiers and girls as sexual slaves. Thousands of children across the region are taken. Many never return. Those lucky enough to escape captivity are severely traumatized. Homecomings are often not the joyous occasions you may imagine. Such is the terror aroused by the Lord’s Resistance Army that kidnapped boys, who have spent years fighting on behalf of LRA savagery, are often viewed with suspicion and great fear. Girls who return with children fathered by LRA fighters face stigma and exclusion. Children who return are often profoundly disturbed and need intensive support before they can return home.

These children and communities desperately need support in order to successfully address the challenge of reintegration. From our new site, to be located in Nzara County, and new child protection office in Juba, our peacekeepers will support children, families and communities through all stages of return and reintegration. We will also work with communities to equip them with strategies to protect themselves against LRA attacks and other conflicted-related violence.

 

 

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*Southern Sudan is set to achieve nationhood status in July. Its official name will then be announced.

You can protect civilians who are living in or fleeing violent conflict. Your contribution will transform the world's response to conflict.
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