New York (United Nations), 3 April 2022 (SPS) - The United Nations Security Council will meet on 20 April to discuss the conflict in Western Sahara, indicated the United Kingdom, which chairs the UN executive body for the current month.
During this meeting, the personal envoy of the UN Secretary General for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, will make a presentation on the conclusions of his first tour in the region, last January, and on his various meetings with international actors involved in the conflict in Western Sahara, according to diplomatic sources.
This meeting will also be an opportunity for the Special Representative for Western Sahara and head of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), the Russian Alexander Ivanko, to present a report on the situation on the ground with the development of military actions between the Sahrawi and Moroccan armies.
On 30 October 2021, the Security Council adopted resolution 2602 extending the mandate of MINURSO for a further year.
MINURSO was established by Security Council Resolution 690 of April 29, 1991, following the acceptance of the conflict settlement proposals by Morocco and the Polisario Front on August 30, 1988.
On 29 April 2016, the Security Council adopted Resolution 2285, calling on the parties to continue to demonstrate political will to engage in more resolute and substantive negotiations.
In his latest report on Western Sahara published in early October 2021, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "deeply concerned about the sharp deterioration" of the situation in the Moroccan-occupied territory, calling the resumption of hostilities between Morocco and the Polisario Front a "major setback" for efforts to find a "peaceful, lasting and mutually acceptable solution to the Saharawi conflict.
062/T