UNITED NATIONS, March 8 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution to extend the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) for another year, till March 17, 2019.

The renewed mandate of UNAMA is in support of Afghanistan's full assumption of leadership and ownership in the security, governance and development areas, reads Resolution 2405.

It sets out the priorities for UNAMA and the special representative of the UN secretary-general for Afghanistan: to support the Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process; to support the organization of future Afghan elections, including the parliamentary elections in 2018 and the presidential elections in 2019; to promote more coherent international support to the Afghan government's development and governance priorities; to support regional cooperation; to promote human rights.

The resolution particularly calls for efforts to secure the rights of women and girls and to ensure that women and girls are protected from violence and abuse, including from sexual and gender-based violence.

The resolution reaffirms support for regional security and economic cooperation, including measures to facilitate regional connectivity, trade and transit, such as the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative, the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, and the Central Asia-South Asia Electricity Transmission and Trade Project.