Protecting Child Soldiers in South Sudan

This project aims to work with security sector actors (e.g. the South Sudanese army other armed groups and peacekeepers) and civil society organizations to prevent the use and recruitment of child soldiers in South Sudan. The project works with 1 200 members of the national armed forces and contributing peace keepers to the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan. Project activities include: (1) increasing knowledge on child protection strategies including the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence; (2) improving skills on reporting grave violations against children; and (3) working with community stakeholders to increase the protection of children through building awareness of underlying factors that contribute to making children vulnerable to being recruited and used as soldiers. The project aims to directly reach at least 1 200 troops and 80 trainers through the delivery of gender-responsive child protection training. The project is being implemented by Dalhousie University along with the Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) improved capacity of security sector actors to prevent the recruitment and use of girls and boys as soldiers; (2) increased effective dialogue about the recruitment and use of girls and boys as soldiers in the overall peacemaking process in South Sudan; and (3) strengthened application of child protection strategies by civil society organizations and communities to protect at-risk girls and boys from recruitment to child soldiery.