{"id":45810,"date":"2026-07-01T15:42:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T13:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=45810"},"modified":"2026-07-01T16:06:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T14:06:54","slug":"defense-minister-chol-thon-vows-zero-tolerance-for-violations-against-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/01\/defense-minister-chol-thon-vows-zero-tolerance-for-violations-against-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Defense Minister Chol Thon vows zero tolerance for violations against children"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Louis Loku<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

South Sudan’s Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs, Gen. Chol Thon Balok, has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to ending grave violations against children in armed conflict.<\/p>\n

He warned that anyone found responsible for recruiting or abusing children will face prosecution under the country’s laws.<\/p>\n

Speaking during the opening of the 2026 National Conference on the Protection of Children Against Recruitment and Use in South Sudan in Juba, Gen. Balok said protecting children is both a legal obligation and a moral responsibility that is essential for lasting peace and stability.<\/p>\n

“There will be no tolerance for violations against children,” he declared. “Anyone responsible for recruiting, using, abducting, killing, maiming, or committing any grave violation against children will be investigated, prosecuted, and punished in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Sudan. No one is above the law.”<\/p>\n

The minister reaffirmed the commitment of the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) to uphold professionalism, discipline, and respect for children’s rights. He reminded military commanders that the recruitment and use of children has been criminalised and that every commander bears the responsibility of ensuring children are never involved in armed conflict.<\/p>\n

Gen. Balok commended the National Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration Commission (NDDRC), government ministries, and the Child Protection National Technical Committee for supporting the release and reintegration of children formerly associated with armed forces and armed groups.<\/p>\n

He said the government’s objective is to fully implement the extended Comprehensive Action Plan running until October 2027 and fulfill all commitments necessary for South Sudan to be removed from the United Nations list of parties responsible for grave violations against children in armed conflict.<\/p>\n

The conference also heard from Ramanathan Balakrishnan, Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (DSRSG), Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, who acknowledged the progress South Sudan has made since signing the Comprehensive Action Plan in 2020 while cautioning that recent insecurity threatens those gains.<\/p>\n

Balakrishnan praised the establishment of national and state-level coordination structures, the work of Joint Verification Committees, and expanded child protection awareness campaigns, saying these efforts have contributed to reducing violations against children.<\/p>\n

However, he expressed concern over renewed violence in parts of the country, which has led to increased cases of child recruitment, abduction, killing and maiming, conflict-related sexual violence, attacks on schools and hospitals, and restrictions on humanitarian access.<\/p>\n

“Every verified case of child recruitment represents a child whose rights have been violated,” he said. “Children belong in schools with their families and communities, where they can learn, grow, and contribute to the country’s future.”<\/p>\n

The senior UN official stressed that protecting children is fundamental to sustainable peace, stability, and development, calling for stronger political leadership, accountability, prevention measures, and community engagement to eliminate violations against children.<\/p>\n

He outlined four priorities for implementing the Comprehensive Action Plan: sustained political commitment, stronger accountability for perpetrators, increased investment in community-based prevention programmes, and strengthened partnerships between the government, security institutions, civil society, communities, and international partners.<\/p>\n

Balakrishnan also emphasised the importance of including children’s voices in decisions affecting their future and reaffirmed the United Nations’ commitment to supporting South Sudan in implementing the Comprehensive Action Plan and other child protection commitments.<\/p>\n

“The progress achieved so far has been made possible through collaboration between the government, security actors, communities, civil society organisations and international partners,” he said. “We stand ready to continue supporting national efforts to protect children.”<\/p>\n

The three-day national conference has brought together senior government officials, security institutions, United Nations agencies, diplomatic missions, civil society organisations, religious leaders, and development partners to review progress, identify challenges, and develop practical strategies to prevent the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Louis Loku South Sudan’s Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs, Gen. Chol Thon Balok, has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to ending grave violations against children in armed conflict. He warned that anyone found responsible for recruiting or abusing children will face prosecution under the country’s laws. Speaking during the[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":45812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Defense-Minister-Gen.-Chol-Thon-Balok-senior-government-officials-UNMISS-DSRSG-and-Resident-and-Humanitarian-Coordinator-Ramanathan-Balakrishnan-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45810"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45814,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45810\/revisions\/45814"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}