The UN Security Council (UNSC) decided on Thursday to extend the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan for one year.

A statement issued by UNSC said that 13 out of 15 members voted to extend the mandate of the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) until March 15, 2024, while Russia, and China abstained from voting.

UNMISS, the most expensive UN mission with a budget of USD 1.2 billion, is expected “to maintain its force levels with a ceiling of 17,000 troops and 2,101 police personnel.” The UNMISS’s mission under the adopted Security Council resolution is to protect civilians, improve conditions for the delivery of humanitarian aid, support the implementation of the peace process, and monitor and report violations of international humanitarian law and human rights.

In 2018, after the end of the five-year civil war in southern Sudan, which claimed the lives of at least 380,000 people, President Salva Kiir and his rival Riek Machar formed a transitional government, and they agreed to unite efforts under one army to protect the population from conflicts and climate disasters.

Source: Qatar News Agency