New York (UN), 11 March 2025 (SPS) - The Personal Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, has initiated consultations in preparation for a closed-door meeting at the Security Council regarding the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), scheduled for mid-April.
The Polisario Front’s representative to the United Nations and coordinator with MINURSO, Sidi Mohamed Omar, stated in a declaration to APS that the Security Council "will hold a closed-door consultation session on MINURSO in mid-April, in accordance with Resolution 2756 adopted by the Security Council on October 31, 2024. This resolution requested the Secretary-General to present reports to the Security Council regularly or at times he deems appropriate during MINURSO’s mandate or within six months following the renewal of its mandate."
During this session, Staffan de Mistura will present a report on "the situation and prospects of the peace process" in Western Sahara, while the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and head of MINURSO, Alexander Ivanko, will present a report on "developments in the area covered by the mandate of the UN mission."
The Sahrawi diplomat further clarified that Mr. De Mistura met with the State Secretary at the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a non-permanent member of the Security Council. He is also expected to deepen his contacts with the parties to the conflict (the Polisario Front and the Moroccan occupier) before presenting his report to the Security Council.
On another note, "the upcoming Security Council consultation session will be the first opportunity for the new U.S. administration to express its position regarding all aspects related to the work of the UN mission in Western Sahara. The United States, as the penholder for MINURSO’s mandate, is also a member of the 'Group of Friends of Western Sahara' at the Security Council."
Sidi Omar emphasized, in this context, that the peace plan jointly adopted by the UN and the African Union (AU) in 1991, accepted by both parties to the conflict and unanimously endorsed by the Security Council, remains "the most practical and realistic solution that has achieved consensus."
The Polisario Front, in its statement released on February 25, reaffirmed the full cooperation of the Sahrawi party with the UN and the AU to achieve a just and lasting solution, in accordance with the UN Charter and the principles of the AU.
The Polisario Front’s representative to the United Nations concluded by recalling "the Sahrawi party’s commitment to a just and lasting peace," stressing "the Sahrawi people’s attachment to their inalienable and imprescriptible right to self-determination, as well as their right to resist by all legitimate means, including armed struggle, to achieve independence."
Related blogs
