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FULL TEXT OF THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL COUNCIL’S (8403RD) MEETING ON SOUTH SUDAN. With a new roadmap for peace in South Sudan facing persistent challenges, the integral involvement of women is vital, along with international support to ensure that the country’s leaders fulfil their responsibilities, the head of United Nations peacekeeping told the Security Council on Friday. “It is imperative that women be represented in the ceasefire and transitional…mechanisms, as stipulated in the agreement,” Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under‑Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations said, in a briefing on the joint visit of United Nations and African Union officials to South Sudan from 7 to 9 October. Joining him in briefing the Council were Smaïl Chergui, African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security (via tele-videoconference) and Phumzile Mlambo‑Ngcuka, Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women). Both accompanied the Under‑Secretary-General on the mission and met with leaders in Government and women’s organizations and visited the protection of civilians site in Bentiu that is administered by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). The Under-Secretary-General said that the signing of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan by the parties ‑ in which the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) had been integrally involved, ‑ were followed by confidence-building measures and preliminary meetings on implementation. However, he acknowledged that there remained de*p challenges and scepticism over whether the leaders of the South Sudanese parties will follow through on their commitments. Therefore, the Council and the regional partners must ensure accountability. Permanent adherence to the cease-fire and creation of the necessary structures that meet the Agreement’s guarantee of 35 per cent women’s representation across