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SADC 39th Summit calls on international community to meet aspirations of Saharawi people

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Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania) 18 August 2019 (SPS)- The 39th Ordinary Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) called, in its Final Communiqué Today, on the international community to meet the aspirations of the Saharawi people.
The meeting held at Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre in Dar es Salaam on the 17th and 18th August 2019, “called for the unconditional implementation of all UN resolutions and AU decisions on Western Sahara, which will lead to a positive, peaceful and permanent solution that meets the aspirations of the people of Western Sahara.”
The communiqué, which evoked various regional issues of common interest, accorded five paragraphs to the Saharawi cause as the only international issues of interest mentioned by SADC Summit.
The Summit commended the outgoing Chairperson of SADC, H.E. Dr.  Hage G. Geingob, President of the Republic of Namibia, and H.E. Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa, “for their outstanding leadership during the SADC Solidarity Conference with the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic,” held last 25th March 2019 in Pretoria, South Africa.
The participating countries “noted the resolutions of the SADC Solidarity Conference with the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR)/Western Sahara,” and urged SADC Member States, the African Union, and the United Nations “to implement the Conference resolutions.”
The Summit expressed solidarity with SADR “urging African Union Member States and other partners to ensure that the SADR is not excluded from participating in continental and international events,” in reaction to various previous attempts by Morocco to hinder SADR presence in international forums.
On this specific issue, the communiqué directed SADC Secretariat “to notify the African Union Commission to notify the Government of Japan on the SADC Position regarding the exclusion of SADR participation in the forthcoming meeting of TICAD in August 2019.”
To read the full text of the Final Declaration of the SADC Solidarity Conference with the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic held last 25th March 2019 in Pretoria, South Africa. Click HERE
090/500/60 (SPS)