New York (The United Nations) 21 October 2020 (SPS)- The Permanent Representative of the Republic of Angola to the United Nations, H.E. Ambassador Maria De Jesus Ferreira, expressed her country’s support to the implementation of the UN/OAU Settlement Plan of 1991 to resolve the conflict in Western Sahara, in her statement Yesterday before the UN Fourth Committee.
“We encourage the implementation of the United Nations and Organization African Union (OUA) Settlement Plan, accepted by both parties and approved by the Security Council in 1990 and 1991 to implement the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO),” she indicated.
Angola, she further stated, “stresses the urgency for achieving a peaceful, just, and lasting solution regarding the situation between Morocco and Polisario. We encourage the parties in the dispute to engage again in negotiations in order to accelerate a peaceful solution in compliance with international law and respect for borders.”
“We believe that, the appointment of a new personal envoy for Western Sahara is imperative and represents an issue that deserves both urgent attention and consideration in order to expedite the process towards the holding of the referendum for the people of the region, to support a just, lasting and mutually agreed upon solution for the region in compliance with the United Nations Security Council resolution,” Angolan Ambassador said.
She further considered that “the right to independence, sovereignty and unity of states represent legitimate rights of all peoples. Nevertheless, these rights are often jeopardized given that not all territories benefit from the commitments of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples as mentioned in the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1514 of December 14, 1960.”
“After 75 years of existence of the United Nations, we cannot ignore the fact that the enduring effects of decolonization represent a reminder to all of us of the challenges that we must face and goals that remain to be achieved in this realm,” she emphasized.
“We believe that, international peace and security which are at the center of the role of the United Nations as a whole can only be achieved to the fullest by considering the rights of all peoples and colonialism is inconsistent with our mission as United Nations. We must be resilient and continue working hard in order to safeguard the rights of all peoples by ensuring and not resting until there is no longer any NonSelf- Governing territory,” she concluded. (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)