A/HRC/43/56 VI. Recruitment and use of children in armed conflict37 45. Delayed progress and the selective implementation of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan had a disproportionate impact on the lives of children during the period under review. Severe acute malnutrition, absence of critical services and the ongoing brutality of intercommunal, internecine and sexual and genderbased violence continued to victimize South Sudanese boys and girls on multiple grounds. As at late July 2019, some 19,000 children were thought to still be in the ranks of the SSPDF and armed opposition groups.38 Of concern, the estimated number of children recruited by parties to the conflict has remained the same since at least December 2017.39 46. During the period under review, members of SPLA-IO (RM) Division 6A (based in Achot (Wau)), and government forces, including the National Security Service and SSPDF Tiger Division,40 SSPDF Divisions 3 (based in Northern Bahr el Ghaza (Winejok) and Warrap (Panachier) States), 4 (based in Rubkona (Unity)), 5 (based in Girinty Barracks (Wau), Western Bahr el-Ghazal State ) and 10,41 as well as Taban Deng-allied SSPDF42 continued to recruit, train and use children aged as young as 12 years in Wau, Warrap, Unity and Central Equatoria States, the latter the powerbase of the National Salvation Front. Despite provisions enumerated in the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army Act and the National Service Security Act, the Commission received credible information that recruitment drives carried out by government forces sought to enlist 10,000 men and boys, 43 with some estimates reaching 17,000.44 47. Even though article 2.1.10.3 of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan reaffirmed the commitment made in articles 3 (2) (f), 9 (1) and 10 (a) of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement of 2017 to refrain from using children and recruiting them into armed forces or militias, only modest progress has been made since its signing. With planning beginning as early as September 2018, and recruitment continuing through at least the following July, the National Security Service and SSPDF bolstered their forces, particularly in Warrap, including through the forced recruitment and use of children (Training for the forces reportedly began in Yithkuel, Tonj South (Warrap) in August 2019). Child conscripts reported being transferred between SSPDF Division 3 in Warrap and SSPDF Division 5 Girinty Military Barracks in Wau, 45 Yithkuel (Tonj South) and the National Security Service training facility in Luri (near Juba) (see annex II, paras. 3–5). In some instances, transfers and training involved SSPDF Tiger Division Forces. After some recruits were trained and issued arms, they were reportedly brought closer to Juba to be deployed by the National Security Service and the SSPDF, notably by its Tiger Division.46 48. In most instances documented by the Commission, the recruitment of children was intentional, as the children were abducted by the SSPDF, including in Gogrial (Warrap) (annex II, paras. 1–12). Beyond government forces, county commissioners and local chiefs 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 12 Certain information undisclosed in accordance with the principle of “do no harm”. See UNICEF, “32 children released from opposition groups in South Sudan”, 24 July 2019. In 2018, the United Nations verified 102 incidents of recruitment or use affecting 453 children (365 boys, 88 girls), 14 per cent of whom were under 15 years of age at the time of their recruitment (A/73/907– S/2019/509, para. 152). “Children are the face of conflict-fuelled humanitarian tragedy in South Sudan – UNICEF”, UN News Service, 15 December 2017. The Commission heard credible allegations during a confidential meeting on 19 October 2019 that Tiger Division forces were sent by the President himself to oversee recruitment.. The Commission was informed during confidential meetings on 16 and 17 September 2019 that, in April 2019, an estimated 800 Division 10 soldiers were deployed to and established a headquarters in Warrap (Panachier) State to conduct disarmament. Refers to SPLA-IO (TD) forces. ERN 102837 – 102841; ERN 102850 – 102857. ERN 103459 – 103468. ERN 102536 – 102540. ERN 103459 – 103468; see also annex II, paras. 71–86.