A/HRC/40/CRP.1 workplan and resulted in the appointment of new SPLA child protection focal points to SPLA headquarters in Juba and the training of 70 officers from the SPLA child protection unit. 693 However, even with the signing of the R-ARCSS auguring well for peace and a return to normality and re-engagement on the workplan to address the six grave violations, children and youth face significant challenges which can only be overcome with commitment and investment on the part of the Government, the international community, and all South Sudanese. The lasting effects of the conflict coupled with the already meagre resources and opportunities available to South Sudanese children risk creating a lost generation. 1. Recruitment and Use of Children in Armed Conflict a) Legal developments In a welcome development in 2018 the Government acceded to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. This commits South Sudan not to recruit or conscript children under the age of 18. States parties must take all feasible measures to prevent such recruitment, including enacting legislation to prohibit and criminalize such recruitment and use. South Sudan must also demobilize anyone under 18 conscripted or used in hostilities and provide appropriate assistance for their physical and psychological rehabilitation and social reintegration. Since both the SPLA Act (2009) and the Child Act (2008) already provide that the minimum age for recruitment into the SPLA forces is 18 years,694 South Sudan does not need to legislate any further in relation to its armed forces as it has already met its obligations under the Optional Protocol. However, while the Child Act (2008) provides for penalties for the recruitment in “armed forces”,695 the Optional Protocol additionally requires States parties to take all feasible measures to prevent recruitment and use of children in armed groups other than the armed forces of a State. This obligation includes the adoption of legal measures necessary to prohibit and criminalize such recruitment and use of children.696 The Child Act (2008) should therefore be amended to also prohibit and criminalize recruitment into “armed groups”. South Sudan also declared that the safeguards in the SPLA Act (2009) “shall be observed and bound by to ensure that all recruitment is made in public places and not done under force or duress, advertised in the press and national media for young people, the recruits undergo medical examination and the record consist of recruitment as appropriate, among others, a birth certificate, certificate of education or apprenticeship.” 697 The Commission notes, however, that none of these safeguards referred to in the Declaration are provided for in the SPLA Act (2009) and the Child Act (2008). Furthermore, it is not currently possible to check the age of recruits using birth certificates as fewer than 30 percent children in South Sudan have such certificates.698 In November 2018, the Civil Registry Act, which will make birth registration systematic, was signed into law. There remains therefore a gap in relation to verification of the age of new recruits. b) Current situation Despite the legal prohibitions, the recruitment and use of children in the armed forces and armed groups remains a major concern in South Sudan. In his May 2018 Report to the Security Council on Children and Armed Conflict, the United Nations Secretary-General 693 United Nations Security Council, Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict in South Sudan, S/2018/865, 25 September 2018. 694 SPLA Act (2009), section 22(2); Child Act (2008), section 31. 695 Child Act (2008), section 32. 696 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 4(2). 697 Declaration to South Sudan’s Accession to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, C.N.448.2018.TREATIES-IV.11.b (Depositary Notification). 698 Global Initiative on Out of School Children, South Sudan Country Study, May 2018. 99