United Nations ( CNN ) -- The U.N. Security Council will take up a draft resolution that would establish an interim peacekeeping force for the disputed border region of Abyei , U.S . Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice told reporters Thursday . The draft resolution calls for the deployment of 4,200 Ethiopian National Defense Force peacekeepers to the region . `` We are looking forward to discussions with council members in order to swiftly adopt a resolution authorizing this new interim security force for Abyei so that the agreement that both parties have reached , which is obviously urgent and fragile , can be implemented immediately and effectively , '' Rice told reporters after the Security Council met in closed session . The purpose of the interim security agreement is to allow for the withdrawal of forces from Abyei , she said . `` At this stage that means the forces of the government of Sudan , which are now occupying Abyei , and that that area would become demilitarized and administered in a joint fashion and that would persist pending resolution of the critical underlying issues . '' Time for action over Sudan ? The Sudanese government and the Sudan People 's Liberation Movement signed an agreement Monday that allows U.N. peacekeepers in Abyei . The two sides agreed in principle on the need for a third party to monitor the ill-defined border between north and south before the scheduled July 9 independence for the south . Thursday 's announcement came a day after U.S. President Barack Obama applauded the signing of the agreement , the latest effort to quell the violence in Sudan that has forced tens of thousands of people from their homes . `` I commend the parties for taking this step forward toward peace , and I urge them now to build on that progress and agree to an immediate cease-fire in Southern Kordofan , '' the White House said in a statement . Southern Kordofan is the oil-rich northern border state where fighting has also erupted between government troops and forces loyal to the south . Rice said she was concerned about the humanitarian situation in Southern Kordofan . `` We are deeply concerned about attacks on and threats to and intimidation of U.N. personnel , obstructions to freedom of movement and access for humanitarian goods , allegations and indeed verified reports of aerial bombardment and other attacks against civilian personnel , '' she said . `` With a cease-fire in Southern Kordofan , alongside the agreement to deploy peacekeepers to Abyei , we can get the peace process back on track , '' she said . `` But without these actions , the road map for better relations with the government of Sudan can not be carried forward , which will only deepen Sudan 's isolation in the international community . '' The people from the Nuba Mountains in Southern Kordofan are northerners but they aligned with the south 's rebel movement during Sudan 's decades-long civil war . They are viewed as a threat by Khartoum because Southern Kordofan will remain part of the north after independence . `` The treatment of civilians in South Kordofan , including the reported human rights abuses and targeting of people along ethnic lines , is reprehensible , '' said Valerie Amos , the United Nations undersecretary general for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator . Between Abyei and Southern Kordofan , about 160,000 people have been displaced from their homes , the United Nations has said . Southern Sudan voted for independence in a January referendum that was largely peaceful . But with its separation pending , tensions have heightened to what they were like during the civil war days and there has been little cause for celebration over the birth of a nation . The U.S. State Department issued a warning Wednesday , urging U.S. citizens to avoid travel to the border areas -- including Abyei and Southern Kordofan -- as well as to the Darfur region of Sudan .
Draft resolution would establish an interim peacekeeping force for Abyei . It calls for deployment of 4,200 peacekeepers to the region . Agreement 's purpose is to allow for troop withdrawal from Abyei , ambassador says .