The Security Council has renewed the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei known as UNISFA.

UNISFA is a UN peacekeeping force in Abyei, a contested area between the Republic of Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan.

It was approved on the 27^th June 2011 by the United Nations Security Council in a Resolution 1990 after a flare-up in the area in June of the same year.

The representative of South Sudan to the UN, Ambassador Francis Deng, addressed the Security Council following the renewal of UNISFA’s mandate in New York yesterday.

He said although the mandate of UNISFA has been renewed, there are still problems that need to be resolved.

“It is, however, evident, as reflected in the Secretary-General’s report that there is, regrettably, a prolonged impasse and that new and creative ideas must be sought in order to generate the required outcome,” Mr Deng said.

The Abyei Protocol of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement refers to Abyei as the area where the nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms settled prior to the 1905 annexation of the area to Northern Sudan.

The Ethiopian Army is the largest contributor to UNISFA. The mandate lasts 12 months.