Soldier's Rights in South Sudan

In South Sudan, being a soldier is signing up for a life of arbitrariness because the current regime doesn't have structures, programs, systems and legal rules on how to treat, train and sustain soldiers in the army and off duty. Soldiers are often in a rut in the country, and they are not paid on time and often can be abused by their superiors since there are no national unions created on their behalf. They can be overworked, underpaid and dehumanized without anyone being entirely held accountable. 

The army lacking fundamental structure, rules and regulations, harms the most vulnerable populations as in children. South Sudan is known to have child soldiers in the military in the countryside or in disadvantaged communities plagued by internal or neighbourly conflicts. The young are given guns to be security for the tribe, clan or district where the government has failed. In the '80s, during the revolution, many young people under 18 were taken by force across borders to serve the revolution survivors of those experiences have not been compensated for their loss of youth and innocence. 

Instead, the current government of South Sudan, with all the resources, wealth and power, ignores the plight of soldiers in the country. Instead of unifying all the forces in the nation to foster nationalism and honour security arrangements per the agreements signed a few years ago, they create further fragmentation to destabilize those in the opposition to ensure the peace doesn't succeed. 

Whereas the nation's future is unified forces, soldiers who have rights, diversity in the army, and a military that's truly working in one voice and action. We cannot afford more stagnation and destabilization in the area of honouring soldiers' rights. The military must change the status quo and foster unity, nationalism and respect for the men and women who serve this nation.