The UN Security Council has once again urged the South Sudanese government to go ahead with its agreement for a regional protection force to be deployed to the country.
Following closed door consultations on South Sudan, the president of the Security Council said the 15 member body is concerned about the on-going violence and the denial of humanitarian access to parts of the country.
Olof Skoog of Sweden stressed an urgent need to send in the regional protection force that the South Sudanese government has approved.
Members of the Council called on the government to work constructively with the United Nations on a swift deployment of the regional protection force and to end obstructions to the UNMISS.
The planned addition of troops is meant to reinforce the existing U.N. peacekeeping force that has struggled to maintain order and protect civilians.
But a recent report by the Agence France Press news agency found that the deployment has been held back by delays in issuing visas, allocating land for use as bases, and providing airport protection.
The council meeting came as the new U.N. special envoy to South Sudan David Shearer met with the South Sudanese vice president James Wani Igga, to talk about resolving the conflict.
Shearer urged the South Sudanese government to allow U.N. aid workers the freedom and access to distribute food and medical supplies to civilians in need.
Our UN correspondent Liling Tan reports
