The Japanese government decided on Friday to extend the dispatch of four Self-Defense Force officers to the UN peacekeeping operation in South Sudan by another year, the Foreign Ministry said.
The extension, until the end of May next year, was approved at a Cabinet meeting earlier in the day. The announcement comes after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution in March, which extended the mandate of the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMISS) until 15 March 2024, the ministry said in a statement.
"The dispatch of headquarters staff personnel to the UNMISS is intended to support the progress of the peace process in South Sudan together with the international community," the ministry said, adding that this mission is the only UN peacekeeping operation to which Japan currently deploys personnel.
Since November 2011, Japan had dispatched Ground Self-Defense Force engineering personnel to UNMISS. It withdrew the engineering unit in 2017, but continued the deployment of four staff officers at UN mission's headquarters in Juba to engage in logistics, database, engineering, and air operations, it said.
Source: Kuwait News Agency