The Norwegian Ambassador to South Sudan has called on the United Nations and the transitional government in Juba to speed up the deployment of the Regional Protection Force.

The RPF was authorized by the Security Council last year to use all means to protect civilians, facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and deter violence.

The UN Security Council wanted the Regional Protection Forces to have been deployed at the end of last year, but it delayed because of outstanding issues.

These include the armament and the contributing countries.

Two weeks ago, the government said it had accepted the inclusion of Bangladeshi and Nepalese troops as technical experts in the force.

“We have seen some progress now with the advance party coming and we are pleased to see that the government appears to have agreed on keys issues but there are still outstanding issues that need to be solved,” said Ambassador Gunnar Andres Holm.

Amb. Holm says although a number of key issues have been addressed, the government and the UN need to resolve some more to allow the RPF to be deployed in Juba soon.

“They have to be solved very rapidly because the whole idea of the Regional Protection Force was to come in and stabilize Juba and to make sure Juba could be demilitarized as well,” he added.

He told Eye Radio that the contributing countries are ready to send their troops.

In August last year, the UN Security Council said the 4000-member force should be deployed after the outbreak of violence in Juba.

The top commanders of the force have already arrived in Juba.