I. Introduction

1. The present report is submitted pursuant to paragraph 19 of Security Council resolution 1996 (2011), in which the Council requested me to report to it on the expected timeline of the deployment of all components of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), to present benchmarks for the Mission and to keep it informed of progress every four months. The report provides an update on the deployment of all Mission components and on the Mission’s activities, as well as an assessment of the overall situation in the country since my first progress report (S/2011/678), dated 2 November 2011.