FREEDOM TO BE A CHILD: A RIGHT DENIED FOR MOST IN SOUTH SUDAN

By Cuma Pantshwa

• A young, soft-spoken delegate from South Sudan has reminded the world that children need to be seen not just as victims, but as people with dreams, as children who deserve joy, freedom, and a chance.
• Sixteen-year-old Africa Children’s Summit delegate Akuindiik Maduot told the Department of Social Development’s Eastern Cape head of communication Mzukisi Solani that a highlight of Day 1 was the opportunity to be a child.
• Gender inequality is deeply entrenched in her country, and by the age of seven, girls are told to prepare for adulthood – “for responsibilities we haven’t chosen”.

In a television studio set up to cover the Africa Children’s Summit, an emotional conversation quietly unfolded between 16-year-old Akuindiik Maduot from South Sudan and Mzukisi Solani, the head of communications for the Eastern Cape Department of Social Development.

Her beauty, hard to miss – tall, dark-skinned, with striking cheekbones that give her an undeniable presence. Easily over 1.7 metres, she carried herself with quiet grace.

She has been mostly keeping to herself and is often seen walking side by side with a boy from Liberia, her companion throughout the first two days. But behind her reserved demeanour was a story waiting to be told – one that poured out with depth, honesty, and quiet courage. Maduot’s words, soft but striking, carried the weight of a generation growing up in the shadows of conflict.

Her highlight of the first day of the Africa Children’s Summit taking place in Johannesburg was simple yet profound: “Yesterday I was reminded to be a child again. It was nice to play and be a child like the other children who are gathered here.”The child-led platform, which officially opened on Saturday, 5 April 2025,  is designed to amplify children’s voices from across the continent. But for Maduot, it has been more than a conference. It was the reclaiming of a right long denied: the freedom to be a child.

Violations of childhood

According to UNICEF’s 2023 Country Office Annual Report, the ongoing conflict in Sudan has triggered a wave of returnees and refugees into South Sudan – most of whom are women and children.

These displaced populations arrive in critically underdeveloped areas and face severe protection risks, including sexual violence, gender-based violence, and abuse. For Maduot, now a delegate at the Johannesburg summit, the realities she spoke of were not just statistics – they are her lived experience.

“By the age of seven, girls are discouraged from playing with others. We’re told to prepare for adulthood – for responsibilities we haven’t chosen.” She said boys and girls are equal human beings, so “what boys can do, girls can do”.

However, gender inequality is deeply entrenched in her country. “Even education — young girls are discouraged from getting an education.”Years of political instability, widespread flooding, chronic food insecurity, and the influx of returnees have deepened the vulnerabilities facing South Sudanese children.According to UNICEF, over 2.8 million children do not attend school, with girls disproportionately affected. While boys may still access education, many girls are pulled out or never enrolled, denied a future before it begins.

Rights at risk

South Sudan’s children face a cascade of rights violations every day.Maduot emphasised the importance of African leaders to protect and promote children’s rights. Yet, in the face of adversity, children like Maduot are rising. Their voices, once silenced, are now echoing across regional and global platforms.

A glimpse of hope

The interview served as a reminder not only of the pain these children carry, but of their incredible resilience.

Maduot’s eyes welled up as she described playing again, laughing again, and simply being a child, making friends with peers from across the continent. These are days, she said, that will forever be ingrained in her heart.

“I was very happy yesterday because South Africa is a good country, (children here) are allowed to do anything.” In a year when South Sudan is expected to hold its first-ever elections, there is cautious hope that new beginnings may be possible. But political processes alone cannot restore lost childhoods or protect those at risk today. Originally from Juba, the capital of South Sudan, Maduot’s voice grew stronger with each passing session.

During the closing of the day’s programme, as the child delegates from various countries reflected on their experiences, she again took the floor to highlight the issues children face in her homeland, from lack of education to protection risks.

But she also offered words of gratitude. In a heartfelt moment, she called on the children to “thank the President of South Africa for hosting such a platform”, expressing how deeply she valued the opportunity to be heard. She did not hold back in praising the safety she felt during her time at the summit, a dream she has for all African children.

The South Sudanese chaperone accompanying the young girl thanked the organisations for this platform and said South Sudan is a young country and “the children there are suffering. We need a children’s parliament in our country”. Real change begins with listening – not just to policymakers but to children themselves.

In the end, Maduot’s message was unmistakable: children like her are not merely the faces of struggle, but carriers of hope and ambition. They are not just victims of circumstance, but young people with dreams, dignity, and the right to be seen, heard, and protected. Above all, they deserve the simple yet powerful right to be children.