21 July, 2023, Juba, SOUTH SUDAN – The Norwegian ambassador to South Sudan, H.E. Linken Nymann Berryman, met with the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hon. Deng Dau Deng, to discuss progress on implementing a recent conference in Oslo on the protection of children in armed conflict.
The conference, held from 5-6 June, 2023, was also sponsored by UNICEF, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Save the Children International, and its main objective was to get members of the international community to make commitments to improve the protection of children affected by war and conflict.
The conference was also organised in partnership with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, and the African Union.
Hon. Deng represented South Sudan at the Oslo conference during which he assured organizers that South Sudan committed to endorsing the Paris Commitments and Principles and the Vancouver Principles and incorporating them into national legislation.
“We had a good meeting with Honourable Minister Deng Dau Deng, I had the honour of seeing him in Oslo for the conference there, last month,” the Norwegian ambassador told reporters after her meeting with the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
The UN estimates that the number of children living in conflict areas has doubled over the last 30 years. The organization has also verified over 266 000 grave violations against children committed by parties to armed conflict between 2005 and 2020.
The Norwegian ambassador noted that her discussion with Hon. Deng also covered Public Finance Management and the Maputo Protocol, President Salva Kiir assented to earlier this year. The Maputo Protocol is the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.
