The UN Security Council says peacekeepers will remain in South Sudan for another year.

The 15 member Council unanimously approved a resolution Thursday to extend the UN Mission in South Sudan to improve security. The resolution also calls on the South Sudan government take more responsibility for protecting its people.

The UN Security Council initially sent a peacekeeping force of up to 7,000 military personnel and 900 civilian police to South Sudan after it separated from Sudan and became the world's newest nation one year ago. A 2005 peace deal ended the 21 year Sudanese civil war and made possible last year's January referendum in which southern Sudan voted overwhelmingly to split from the north.

Since becoming an independent nation, South Sudan has experienced violence with Sudan , as both sides have yet to resolve disputes over borders and how to share oil revenue.

The Security Council is also calling on UNMISS to work with South Sudan in coordinating protection for its citizens against rebels groups such as the Lord's Resistance Army . which has been linked to mass atrocities in neighboring Uganda.