UN Security Council extends South Sudan mission mandate for 1 year

The UN Security Council on Thursday extended a mandate for the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) for one year.

Thirteen members of the council voted to extend the mission until April 30, 2027, while Russia and China abstained.

The US resolution retains UNMISS' core mandate elements but faced contentious negotiations over troop levels, the mission's political role, and thematic language on women, peace and security, and climate change, with China and Russia ultimately abstaining.

US envoy to the UN, Mike Waltz, said: "The United States is serious when we say that peacekeeping operations are meant to be a temporary tool to help host governments navigate peace and security crises, not an endless stream of support for states to exploit and misuse peacekeepers."

"We are not here to impose a political or ideological model on South Sudan," Waltz said, adding that the US aims to "demand the basics: peace, responsible use of public revenue, and an end to the abuse of assistance meant for the South Sudanese people."

China's deputy envoy to the UN, Sun Lei, said after the vote that the resolution "awakens the army's mandate to support the South Sudanese peace process and implementation of the revitalized agreements" and argued that it "exerts excessive pressure" on the South Sudanese government.

"When addressing issues related to cooperation between armies and South Sudan, the Security Council should give full consideration to the legitimate concerns of the South Sudanese government, and encourage and support both parties to work towards a common goal," he said, adding that "exerting unilateral excessive pressure will only be counterproductive."

Russia's Deputy Permanent Representative for Political Affairs, Anna Evstigneeva, expressed "full support" for UNMISS’ operations in South Sudan. However, she criticized the US for applying pressure.

"We call on our American colleagues not to abuse the role of the informal penholdership of the South Sudan file to push their own course towards a marginalization of the current leadership of South Sudan," she said.