UN Security Council extends UN mission in South Sudan for one year

The UN Security Council voted on Wednesday to renew for one year the UN mission in South Sudan .

Thirteen out fifteen members voted in favour of the resolution that extends the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) until 15 March 2024 .

China and Russia abstained.

According to a UN statement, the mission, one of the most expensive in the world with an annual budget of 1.2 billion dollars , "will maintain its force at a ceiling level of 17 000 troops and 2 101 police officers".

Following the end of a civil war in 2018 that began in 2013 and claimed at least 380 000 lives, President Salva Kiir and his rival Riek Machar formed a transitional government and agreed to unite their forces into a single army to protect their people, who have been hard hit by conflict and climatic disasters.

South Sudan is the world's youngest state and is engaged in a fragile peace process but is still plagued by armed violence .