, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- UN Undersecretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix on Tuesday asked to create conditions for presidential elections in Mali.

"The upcoming presidential elections will mark the beginning of a new chapter in the stabilization of Mali," he told the UN Security Council.

The objective must therefore be to create the conditions for the holding of elections and for the implementation of the peace agreement, he said.

Lacroix said last week's adoption of a timetable of priority actions in the framework of the peace agreement is an important step.

The timetable has a whole series of measures in place that could make progress both in terms of institutional and security arrangements before the presidential elections in mid-July, he said, asking the government and other signatory parties to stick to the timetable.

Lacroix warned that time is short and that Mali is confronted with growing insecurity and worsening human rights and humanitarian situations. Humanitarian workers estimate that 4.1 million Malians, or 22 percent of the population, are food insecure in 2018. The percentage rises to between 30 and 40 percent in the northern and central parts of the country, said Lacroix.

He said that five years after the establishment of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, time has come to reassess the assumptions that underpin the mission's presence, review its key mandated tasks against achievements on the ground and re-examine the mission's layout through a comprehensive strategic review.

Mali is plagued by a civil war and the rise of Islamist militants. The UN mission was established in April 2013 to help stabilize the situation in the country.