The United Nations Security Council said in a resolution passed on Tuesday that it is concerned about the delay in delineating the demilitarized border zone between Sudan and South Sudan.
Both countries continue to suffer their own internal civil wars but they agreed in 2012 to establish a demilitarized border zone between their forces. The zone would be 20 km wide, running 10 km along either side of an agreed centre line.
The demilitarized zone is meant to be monitored by a Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mission (JBVMM), organized by the UN peacekeeping mission in Abyei.
But the two sides have not agreed on the centre line of the demilitarized zone and the JBVMM has been delayed in deploying.
In its resolution the UN Security Council urged the two sides to renew efforts to determine conclusively the SDBZ centreline saying that this “in no way prejudices the current or future legal status of the border.”
The UN Security Council further said it was concerned about “stalled efforts to fully operationalize the JBVMM.”
The Council called on the South Sudanese and Sudanese governments to rely on joint mechanisms such as the JBVMM to ensure the security and transparency of the demilitarized zone, including the ’14 Mile’ area.