President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said Friday his country is determined to protect its children. The president also told reporters in Mogadishu that he had ordered his military commanders to stop recruiting children as soldiers.
The U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) called Friday's announcement "crucial" for the children of Somalia.
UNICEF's Somalia representative, Rozanne Chorlton, said Somali children are enduring the brunt of the country's ongoing conflict, recurring natural disasters and chronic poverty. She vowed that the children's fund will work closely with the Somali government to ratify the treaty and implement it as soon as possible.
If Somalia adopts the treaty, the United States will become the only nation not to ratify it.
The legally binding treaty calls for a commitment to protect children 18 years old and younger. Among other things, it calls for their protection against abuse, neglect, sexual exploitation and high mortality rates. It also requires standards for children's health care and education.
