MAPUTO, March 7 (Xinhua) -- About 30 officials from the Ministry of Defense of Mozambique are to benefit from a training program aimed at equipping them with skills to prevent the recruitment and use of child soldiers particularly in the northern region of the country.
A note shared with Xinhua indicates that the training is in its second phase, following a memorandum of understanding signed among the ministry, the UNICEF, and the Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security in 2021.
"We have commitments to the children's rights protection and one of the most known is the convention of children rights and most recently the declaration of safe schools," said Lindsay Shearer, the Child Protection in Emergencies Specialist in Mozambique addressing the opening of the program in Manica.
Participants were called on to actively engage with the instructors and capitalize on the opportunity to clarify their doubts, so as to avoid any conflicts with the principles of human rights protection.
The second phase courses will last for 10 days, after 100 officials were trained in the first phase. ■