Houthi rebels agree to stop using child soldiers

UNITED NATIONS: Yemen’s Houthi rebels have agreed to rid their ranks of child soldiers, who have fought by the thousands during the country’s seven years of civil war, the United Nations said on Monday.

The Houthis signed what the UN described as an “action plan” to end and prevent recruiting or using children in armed conflict, killing or maiming children and attacking schools and hospitals. UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the rebels committed to identifying children in their ranks and releasing them within six months.

The Houthis’ deputy foreign minister, Hussein al-Azey, and a representative from the UN’s children’s agency, Philippe Duamelle, posed for the media at a signing ceremony in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa. The Houthis called the agreement a plan to protect children.

Yemen’s internationally recognised government, which is operating in exile, made similar commitments in several documents signed since 2014, the UN said. Virginia Gamba, the UN‘s top official looking out for children in war zones, called the Houthis’ move “a positive and encouraging step,” but she noted that “the most difficult part of the journey starts now.”

“The action plan must be fully implemented and lead to tangible actions for the improvement of the protection of children in Yemen,” Gamba, who signed in New York as a witness to the Houthis’ commitment, said in a statement. The UN says nearly 3,500 children have been verified as recruited and deployed in Yemen’s civil war.