News24

At least 30 children from two different schools in Amadi have been abducted by a rebel group linked to ousted South Sudan's vice president Riek Machar, a report said on Friday.

According to BBC, Amadi state governor Joseph Ngere said that around 150 rebels from the SPLM-IO group  attacked the  two schools early this week. He was, however, only made aware of the attack on Wednesday.

Ngere said that at least 300 children were at the two schools and many fled into the bushes. However, Machar's spokesperson Andrew Kuong denied the claims. "Our rules and regulation do not allow anything like that," Kuong was quoted as saying.

Some 145 child soldiers fighting for two rebel groups in South Sudan have been released, Unicef has announced.

The children were recruited by the Cobra Faction and the SPLA In Opposition, two armed groups which have been fighting the government.

They were freed in the eastern region of Pibor and "disarmed and provided with civilian clothes," Unicef said in a statement.

About 16,000 children are still in "armed groups", it says.

Read the full article here.

This is an article which appears on BBC News.

Photo: Credits: Pierre Holtz | UNICEF CAR | www.hdptcar.net

As secretary of State, Hillary Clinton was visibly shaken by sexual crimes against women and girls when she visited the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2009. Sexual crimes in this central African country, known as the “rape capital of the world,” include the sexual exploitation of tens of thousands of girls abducted and trapped as child soldiers. Nonetheless, since 2010, President Obama has waived a congressionally mandated ban on military aid to countries known to exploit child soldiers, among them the DRC.

CBC News

Fazineh Keita trying to build a community centre to help prevent kids from facing the same reality he did.

At eight years old, kids are usually thinking about what mom is making for dinner and how long they can get away with playing video games. 

Fazineh Keita's reality was much different growing up during the civil war in Sierra Leone.

Now living in Vancouver, Keita is reflecting on his past while trying to change the future for children in his native land. 

His charity, Innocence Lost Foundation, aims to help provide resources and rehabilitation services to former child soldiers and give kids a chance to be kids.

Read more here.

Amnesty International

Appeal court judges in Gwangju, south-west Korea, overturned the guilty verdicts of two conscientious objectors, Cho Rak-hoon and Kim Hyung-geun. It is the first time an appeal court has reversed guilty verdicts in a conscientious objectors case.

“The appeal court has sent a clear message that conscientious objection is not a crime. The government needs to act on the ruling and stop punishing young men who refuse military service on grounds of conscience,” said Hiroka Shoji, East Asia Researcher at Amnesty International.

“It is long overdue for South Korea to have an alternative to military service which respects freedom of thought, conscience and religion.”

Amelia Hill, The Guardian

Public health charity uses damning report to call for minimum recruitment age to be raised to 18.

Recruiting children aged 16 and 17 into the British army places them at greater risk of death, injury and long-term mental health problems than those recruited as adults, according to a new report.

AFP

The Hague - "How do you calculate a lost childhood?" That was the question on Tuesday before war crimes judges trying to set the amount of landmark reparations to be paid to former Congolese child soldiers.

After years of hearings, trials and appeals before the International Criminal Court (ICC), the victims of former Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga are "tired of this battle", said lawyer Luc Walleyn.

Read full article here.

This is an article by the AFP which appears on News24

Photo: Julien Harneis

David Gee, from Child Soldiers International, gives a talk on British militarism.