New York (United Nations), 15 October 2022 (SPS) - The Fourth Committee of the UN General Assembly, in charge of decolonization issues, adopted on Friday a resolution, without a vote, reaffirming the legal framework of the conflict in Western Sahara as a decolonization issue and the responsibility of the United Nations towards the Sahrawi people.
The UN Fourth Committee on Special Political and Decolonization Committee took note of the report of the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, dated October 4, 2022, submitted to the General Assembly in which he stressed, among other things that the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) of the General Assembly and the Special Committee on the Status of the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonized Countries and Peoples "should address the question of Western Sahara as a decolonization issue".
In this context, the Fourth Committee reaffirmed the inalienable right of all peoples to self-determination and independence in accordance with the principles contained in the Charter of the United Nations and in General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) of December 14, 1960, containing the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonized Countries and Peoples
It also reaffirmed "the responsibility of the United Nations towards the people of Western Sahara" and requested the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonized Countries and Peoples to "continue to examine the situation in Western Sahara as a territory subject to decolonization and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its 78th session", and also requested the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its next session a report on the implementation of that resolution.
The Saharawi question was strongly present in the high-level general deliberations of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, where several Heads of State and Government made statements expressing their country's clear support for the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination and independence and demanding the holding of a referendum on self-determination in Western Sahara.
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