President Barack Obama has decided to keep Myanmar on the list of nations that are subject to US sanctions over its use of child soldiers.
The decision, announced on September 30, came despite progress in the discharge of under-age recruits from the formerly military-ruled nation's armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw.
A US official said Obama had not granted Myanmar a waiver from the sanctions applied under the Child Soldier Prevention Act (CPSA).
The law prevents US military assistance to or the issue of licences for commercial military sales to cited nations.
In his annual determination, Obama also declined to grant waivers to Syria and Sudan, which like Myanmar were among nine states named on a CPSA list released by the State Department in June.
Obama granted grant waivers under the law to Rwanda, Somalia and Yemen.
He granted partial waivers to the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
The United Nations praised Myanmar for making progress in reducing the numbers of child soldiers in the Tatmadaw in a statement issued on September 25.
The statement followed the release of 109 children and young people from the Tatmadaw at a ceremony in Yangon attended by the Defence Minister, Lieutenant-General Wai Lwin.
It was the largest single release of child recruits from the Tatmadaw since the government committed to ending the recruitment and use of children under a June 2012 action plan.
The release brought to 472 the number of children and young people discharged from the military under the action plan, agreed between the government and the UN-led Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting on grave violations against children (CTFMR).
The government developed the action plan with the CTFMR in response to the Tatmadaw and seven non-state armed groups having been included on the UN Secretary-General's list of parties to conflict who recruit and use children since 2007, said the September 25 UN statement.
Apart from the Tatmadaw, the seven non-state armed groups on the UN Secretary-General's list are the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army, Kachin Independence Army, Karen National Liberation Army, Karen National Liberation Army Peace Council, Karenni Army, Shan State Army-South and the United Wa State Army.
