New York (United Nations), August 3, 2024 (SPS) - In his report (A/79/229) on Western Sahara submitted to the upcoming session of the General Assembly, the United Nations Secretary-General reaffirmed that the United Nations Security Council addresses the issue of Western Sahara as a matter of peace and security, and that the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) of the General Assembly 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 the issue of Western Sahara as a matter related to the end of colonialism.
The submission of the Secretary-General's report comes in implementation of General Assembly resolution 78/85 adopted on December 7, 2023 during its 78th session on the issue of Western Sahara under agenda item 58 related to the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.
The United Nations General Assembly, in its resolution 78/85, recalled all the resolutions of the General Assembly and the United Nations Security Council concerning Western Sahara, including Security Council resolution 690 (1991) of April 29, 1991, by which the Security Council established and placed under its authority the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).
The General Assembly also reaffirmed the responsibility of the United Nations towards the people of Western Sahara, and called upon the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (the Twenty-Fourth Committee) to continue to examine the situation in Western Sahara as a territory under colonial domination, and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its 79th session, and requested the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its next session a report on the implementation of this resolution.