UNSC in session - file picture

The United Nations Security Council has given South Sudan and Sudan six months to resolve the final status of the disputed Abyei area and implement joint border Security between the two countries.

The contention between South Sudan and Sudan is on the location of Abyei. Currently the area is described to be under the Sudan, administratively.

Under the Comprehensive Peace agreement signed in Nairobi Kenya in 2005, the Abyei inhabitants were to decide in a referendum whether to rejoin South Sudan or remain as part of the Sudan.

In 2012, the 9 Ngok Dinka Chiefdoms organized a referendum in which they voted overwhelmingly to be part of an independent South Sudan. However, the results of that referendum were not officially recognized by the governments of the two countries.

Since then, the violence in South Sudan delayed any further talks on the situation of the Abyei and the border demarcation between Sudan and South Sudan.

In a statement issued this week, the 15 member Security Council says the issue of the region has gone on for too long and the two countries have consistently lacked commitment to resolve the area final status.

It directed the two countries to resume negotiations in order to urgently agree on the matter and establish an administration together with a council for the disputed Abyei area.

The council also urges South Sudan and Sudan to establish interim measures they previously agreed on to jointly administer and police the area.

During deliberation, U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Michele Sison told the council that five years of obstacles to deploys the joint border monitoring operation “is enough.”

Mr. Sison calls on both parties to uphold their commitments in the July 2011 Comprehensive Agreement which includes resuming border demarcation discussions.