April 23, 2024 19:00 (IST)
Follow us:
UNSC extends UN mission in South Sudan
New York, May 28 (IBNS): The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Tuesday extended the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and revised its mandate to give priority to the task of protecting civilians and to address the security, humanitarian and political crisis that has gripped the nation for the past six months.
In a unanimously adopted resolution, the Council decided to extend the Mission until 30 November 2014, and authorized it to use “all necessary means” to protect civilians, monitor and investigate human rights, create the conditions for delivery of humanitarian assistance, and support the implementation of the cessation of hostilities agreement.
In doing so, the Council requested UNMISS to focus and streamline its activities, across its military, police and civilian components in order to achieve progress on the above-mentioned tasks, and recognized that “certain Mission tasks will therefore be ceased.”
The authorized troop and police strengths of the Mission will remain 12,500 and 1,323, respectively, as was decided by the Council in late December 2013 after political infighting between President Salva Kiir and former Vice President Riek Machar turned into a full-fledged conflict that has uprooted over one million people.
At the same time, the Council on Tuesday endorsed the recommendations made by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a recent report to increase the overall force levels of UNMISS to support its restructured mandate.
It requested Ban to review needs on the ground, and provide and updated assessment of the force’s operations, deployment and future requirements 120 days after the adoption of the resolution.
In line with its mandate, UNMISS has been protecting between 75,000 and 80,000 civilians who have sought safety at its bases around the country for months since the violence began. In Tuesday’s resolution, the Council emphasized that the protection of civilians must be given priority in decisions about the use of available capacity and resources within the Mission.
The Council also condemned “in the strongest terms” attacks on and threats made to UNMISS personnel and UN facilities, including violations of the Status of Forces Agreement, and stressed that such attacks may constitute war crimes.
[Wide view of the Security Council. UN Photo/JC McIlwaine (file photo)]
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
Latest Headlines
UK, Germany detain suspected Chinese spies Tue, Apr 23 2024
Navy helicopters collide mid-air in Malaysia, 10 crew members die Tue, Apr 23 2024
Independent review panel releases final report on UNRWA Tue, Apr 23 2024
Thousands of children killed or maimed by explosive weapons in populated areas: UNICEF Tue, Apr 23 2024
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls for UN 2.0 to tackle 21st century challenges Tue, Apr 23 2024
Antonio Guterres upholds UNRWA as a ‘lifeline’ following receipt of independent panel’s report Tue, Apr 23 2024
Uber bans Hindu woman in Sydney for 5 months over name controversy; reverts decision, issues apology Tue, Apr 23 2024
Canada Border Services Agency’s internal launch to remodel tax collection of import goods rescheduled Tue, Apr 23 2024
Toronto endorses city-wide expansion of its alcohol in parks program Tue, Apr 23 2024