United Nations official news sources reported: "The Security Council, welcoming the preparations in Sierra Leone for the presidential, parliamentary and local elections on 17 November, and underlining their importance as a “key benchmark” for peace consolidation in the West African country, extended the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL) there until 31 March 2013 to, along with its other key tasks, assist the Government in the run-up to that potentially transformational event.