The present report, submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 1612 (2005) and subsequent resolutions, is the second report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in South Sudan. It contains information on the six grave violations against children that occurred between 1 October 2014 and 30 June 2018, the context in which they took place and identifies, where possible, the perpetrators.
The report documents alarming levels of all six grave violations against children committed by all parties to conflict throughout the reporting period, as well as the intensification of the impact on children as conflict progressively expanded from the greater Upper Nile region to the greater Equatoria region.
Recruitment and use, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence and abductions by all parties to conflict were documented at particularly worrisome levels. Numerous incidents of attacks against schools and hospitals were verified throughout the reporting period.
In addition, high levels of denial of humanitarian access to children were documented, levels which were exacerbated after the crisis of July 2016. That, in parallel with a worsening security situation, impeded the ability of the United Nations to document and respond to violations against children.
The report provides a series of recommendations to end and prevent grave violations against children in South Sudan and to improve their protection.