Southern Sudan has vowed to end its use of child soldiers by the end of the year, as the former rebel force works to transform itself into a regular army ahead of a 2011 independence referendum.
More than 22,000 former child fighters with the Sudan People's Liberation Army have returned to civilian life in the past decade.
900 children remain under arms, according to UNICEF.
During the conflict, which officially ended in 2005 with the signature of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the then rebel army recruited thousands of children into special youth units known as the 'Red Army'.
Many of the children still in the now official southern force rely on the military since they do not have relatives able to support them, or they grew up with their families in army barracks, officials said.
The child support unit, which is backed by the United Nations, is part of an action plan signed by the SPLA committing it to release all children by November this year.
William Deng, head of the southern government's commission for disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration said that 'the SPLA by the end of this year will be child-free.'
But he also warned that efforts must be made to support those who go back to civilian life.
Mr Deng said: 'If there are no schools or things the children can do, then they will come back to the army, we need to prepare facilities in the villages for these children.'
The promises were welcomed by the UN. 'All of us acknowledge today the impressive steps forward that the SPLA have taken.'
The UN says that 4m people, roughly half the population of the south, depend upon some kind of food assistance in order to survive.
