United Nations

by Alpaslan Ozerdem

Young people are frequently ‘othered’ in discussions about on conflict. This is a dangerous practice as youths can play a very positive role aiding peacebuilding in societies recovering from conflict.

The UN World Population Prospects statistics estimate that there are 1.3 billion 15-24 years olds in the world and nearly one billion live in developing countries where conflict is more likely to have taken place.

In such demographic realities, the potential youths hold for change and positive action is the subject of growing research agenda, and this is particularly the case with the recent wave of social upheavals and humanitarian crises in different parts of the world.

A quarter of a million children face starvation in war-torn South Sudan, with an end to the 18-month conflict as distant as ever, the expelled UN aid chief warned Tuesday.

"Six months ago, we thought that violence and suffering had peaked and that peace was on the horizon. We were wrong," said Toby Lanzer, who was barred from the country earlier this month after warning of economic meltdown.

"Political intransigence left peace ever more distant; war raged on and is leading to economic collapse."

Civil war began in December 2013 when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of planning a coup, setting off a cycle of retaliatory killings across the country that has split the poverty-stricken, landlocked country along ethnic lines.

It has been characterised by ethnic massacres, rape and the use of child soldiers.

Pact signed by eight main militias covers thousands of children, including those used as sex slaves or menial workers.

The United Nations has announced that armed factions in Central African Republic (CAR) have agreed to free all child soldiers and other children used as sex slaves or menial workers, boosting UN-driven efforts at national reconciliation after two years of turmoil.

The pact signed by the eight main militia groups in the country covers an estimated 6,000 to 10,000 children, the United Nations child agency UNICEF said on Tuesday.

Armed groups also pledged to end the recruitment of children.

The accord emerged from a week-long national reconciliation forum which began on Monday with the goal of ending conflict that has killed thousands, and driven more than a million people from their homes.

The violence is leaving children terrified and more of them are being recruited as child soldiers, UNICEF said.

At least 62 children have been killed and 30 injured in Yemen over the past week as fighting has escalated with a Saudi-led air campaign, the UN children's agency UNICEF said Tuesday.

"Children are in desperate need of protection, and all parties to the conflict should do all in their power to keep children safe," said UNICEF's representative for Yemen, Julien Harneis.

Fighting has escalated sharply in Yemen after a Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes five days ago to block an advance by Shiite rebels know as Huthis.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon separately said he was "deeply concerned" by reports of numerous civilian deaths from the military campaign including an attack on Monday on a camp for displaced people that left dozens dead.