NEW YORK, 17 March 2022, (TON): The UN Security Council extended the mandate for the 19,000-strong UN peacekeeping force in South Sudan for a year, while demanding an immediate end to fighting in the country and political dialogue to advance a plan to prevent the world’s newest nation from returning to civil war.

The resolution was adopted by a vote of 13-0, with Russia and China abstaining, both calling the measure unbalanced for focusing too much on human rights in the east African nation.

US Ambassador Linda Thomas Greenfield welcomed approval for the strengthened mandate for the mission, known as UNMISS, in the US-sponsored resolution.

She said the measure reinforces its mandate “to protect civilians, support delivery of humanitarian assistance, monitor and investigate human rights and support the peace process.”

The United States also supports the resolution, she said, “because it calls for UNMISS to strengthen its sexual and gender-based violence prevention activities, responding to the horrific sexual violence in South Sudan.”

China’s deputy UN ambassador, Dai Bing, criticized the United States for pushing “for inclusion of many human rights-related texts, resulting in a very unbalanced draft resolution.”