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Western Sahara + 1 more

Question of Western Sahara: Report of the Secretary-General (A/72/346) [EN/AR]

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Summary

The present report, covering the period from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017, is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 71/106 of 27 December 2016. It summarizes the most recent report submitted by the Secretary-General to the Security Council on the situation concerning Western Sahara (S/2017/307), with information on subsequent developments added where appropriate.

1. On 27 December 2016, the General Assembly adopted without a vote resolution 71/106 on the question of Western Sahara. The present report, covering the period from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017, is submitted in accordance with paragraph 7 of the aforementioned resolution.

2. The Security Council addresses Western Sahara as a matter of peace and security, calling in successive resolutions for a “mutually acceptable political solution, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara”. The Fourth Committee of the General Assembly (the Special Political and Decolonization Committee) and the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples address it as a Non-Self-Governing Territory and an issue of decolonization.

3. Pursuant to Security Council resolution 2285 (2016), I submitted a report to the Security Council on the situation concerning Western Sahara (S/2017/307) on 10 April 2017. In that report, I informed the Council of the situation on the ground; the status and the progress of the political negotiations on Western Sahara; the activities of the Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy; and the existing challenges to the operations of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), as well as steps taken to address them, in keeping with the request of the Security Council in its resolution 2285 (2016).

4. On 7 October 2016, insofar as MINURSO could ascertain, legislative elections were held without incident in Morocco and in the part of Western Sahara under Moroccan control. On 6 November 2016, King Mohammed VI delivered an address to mark the forty-first anniversary of the Green March. Regarding Western Sahara, the King stated that Morocco’s “southern provinces” were strong “thanks to their populations’ commitment to their Moroccan nationality”. The address also praised “the specific development model and projects launched in the region”, and the potential for Western Sahara “to become an integrated development hub, at both the regional and continental levels, and a platform for economic cooperation between Morocco and Africa”. He also indicated that “Morocco will remain open and ever ready to engage in constructive dialogue in order to find a final political settlement”. In a letter to my predecessor dated 24 September 2016, the Secretary-General of Frente Polisario denounced Morocco’s conduct of the elections in Western Sahara, calling them an “illegal and provocative act given its status as a Non-Self-Governing Territory”.

5. In the refugee camps near Tindouf, Algeria, public life and social activities were conducted peacefully and in a relatively calm atmosphere. The humanitarian situation in the refugee camps remained challenging. Operations continued to be affected by underfunding, despite high-level efforts to mobilize additional assistance. Donor briefings were organized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in September and November 2016, in Algiers and Geneva, respectively. In June 2017, I expressed deep concern over the plight of tens of thousands of Sahrawi refugees faced with cuts in food rations owing to lack of donor funding. I noted that funding shortages had forced the World Food Programme to cut food rations by almost one fifth and to halt distributions of nutritional supplements to treat anaemia and malnutrition in pregnant women, nursing mothers and young children. Acute funding shortages continue to affect the provision of basic services and other programmes, including the efforts of UNHCR to pursue a multi-year livelihoods strategy with a particular focus on youth empowerment.