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Action Plan On Release Of Nearly 3,000 Maoist Child Soldiers
By KTM Metro Reporter in Kathmandu
On December 16, 2009, the United Nations, the Nepalese Government and Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-Maoist) signed an action plan on the release of nearly 3,000 child soldiers served in the Maoist army during the country’s decade-long conflict and have remained at cantonments after a peace deal in 2006. Following the action plan the child soldiers will be out of cantonments within 40 days.
On behalf of the Government of Nepal, Joint Secretary to Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction Sadhuram Sapkota, on behalf of UCPN-Maoist, Brigadier Commander Sharad Shah Yatri, on behalf of the UN, Resident Coordinator Robert Piper and UNICEF Country Representative Gillian Mellsop signed off the action plan. Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda, Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Rakam Chemjong, and UN General-Secretary’s Special Envoy Radhika Coomaraswamy signed on the action plan as witnesses.
The peace agreement signed between the Government of Nepal and the Maoists in 2006 ended the conflict and led to the setup of the cantonments to provide Maoist combatants with temporary shelter at several localities across Nepal. They were supposed to be discharged after completion of the verification process but have remained there for three years after the peace deal despite the repeated calls of the Security Council for their release.
The UN has said that the action plan constitutes the first step toward taking the UCPN-Maoist off the list of parties that recruit and use children in conflict; the UN and the Government of Nepal will assist in the orderly rehabilitation of the minors to ensure that they have the choice to participate in programs that return them to a civilian environment and are not recruited by violent or criminal gangs; they will have access to a range of rehabilitation options developed by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the UN Development Program (UNDP) and financed by the UN Peace Fund for Nepal.
Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda has said that the agreement on the action plan is the testimony of his party’s commitment to the peace process and sincerity toward it; and the peace process will reach a logical conclusion provided all the stakeholders abided by the Comprehensive Peace Accord.
Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Rakam Chemjong has said that the release of the disqualified Maoist combatants will complete following the action plan, as the plan is the result of the high-level consensus politics.
