On the day the verdict was released, the UN special envoy for children in conflict announced an accord in South Sudan to keep youths under 15 out of the army and allied militias.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon called the ICC verdict “an important step forward” in making sure that “perpetrators of crimes against children in situations of armed conflict are brought to justice.”

Ban called for greater international effort “holding accountable those who commit genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes,” said a UN statement.

UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay called Lubanga’s conviction for conscripting child soldiers “a major milestone in the fight against impunity.”

Lubanga, 51, was found guilty in The Hague of forcing hundreds of children as young as 11 to kill, plunder, and rape during the Ituri conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 2002 and 2003.

The ICC verdict sends a strong signal on “grave breaches of international law that will reverberate well beyond the DRC,” the UN rights official said in a statement.

“Two decades ago, international justice was an empty threat,” she said.

“Since then a great deal has been achieved, and the coming of age of the ICC is of immense importance in the struggle to bring justice and deter further crimes.”

Radhika Coomaraswamy, the UN special envoy on children in conflict, said: “In this age of global media, today’s verdict will reach warlords and commanders across the world and serve as a strong deterrent.”

In 2008, Coomaraswamy appeared as an expert witness at the ICC where she stressed that apart from child soldiers, investigators must take into account children serving as spies, messengers, porters, scouts, and cooks.

Coomaraswamy is in South Sudan where she signed an action plan for the release of children in the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army and allied militias.

UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, executive director Anthony Lake called the Lubanga verdict “a pivotal victory.”