World's worst child abuse in Sudan

Children in Sudan are among some of the most abused in the world, according to a new report by humanitarian groups.

The abuse can range from being press-ganged, coerced to join armed groups, raped and used as forced labour or sex slaves.

The report focuses mainly on Darfur, where a four-year conflict has had a devastating effect, and southern Sudan, which is emerging from 20 years of war.

"Children in Sudan continue to endure some of the most inhumane treatment found anywhere in the world," said Kathleen Hunt, chair of the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict.

She continued: "Despite the end of the war in the south and recent signs of hope for a strengthened peacekeeping force in Darfur many Sudanese children are not faring any better than they were four years ago."

In Darfur, most rebel and militia groups are known to recruit children, including the pro-government Arab militias known as the Janjaweed.

While reports of rape and maiming are ubiquitous in Darfur, Sudanese girls from other parts of the country have been coerced into prostitution or domestic service both domestically and internationally.

It is believed boys as young as four "have been trafficked to Arab Gulf countries to work as camel jockeys and beggars."

Education in Sudan is also in a shocking state, with the south of the country having only 25 per cent of young people in school, the lowest rate in the world.

Children are known to walk for two hours to school only to be taught by untrained teachers working for low or no pay.

Francis Mading Deng, a former Sudanese foreign minister and UN envoy for displaced people said that children and civilians could only be helped through a political solution.

He said: "The need for a political solution is the only way we can find peace."

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