UNITED NATIONS, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution to extend the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, or UNAMI, for another 10 months.
Under Resolution 2421, the mandate of the political mission, which expires on July 31, is renewed until May 31, 2019.
Established in 2003 by UNSC Resolution 1500 at the request of the Iraqi government, UNAMI is entrusted with the mandate to advise and assist the Iraqi government on a number of issues.
This includes advancing inclusive political dialogue and national reconciliation, assisting in the electoral process and in the planning for a national census, facilitating regional dialogue between Iraq and its neighbours, and promoting the protection of human rights and judicial and legal reforms.
Thursday's text has incorporated a number of new elements. Advancing inclusive political dialogue and national reconciliation has been made top priority.
Also, new text has been added to note UNAMI' s responsibility to support an investigative team to collect, store and preserve evidence in Iraq of acts that may amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed by ISIS.
The role of UNAMI has been expanded before, by the adoption of Resolution 1770 in 2007.
