New York, 2 April 2024 (SPS) - The UN Security Council will hold on 16 April closed consultations on the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), including briefings by Special Representative for Western Sahara and Head of MINURSO, Alexander Ivanko, and the UN Secretary-General's Personal Envoy, Staffan De Mistura.
This session is being held in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2703, adopted on 30 October 2023, renewing MINURSO's mandate for a supplementary year, until 31 October 2024.
The resolution introduced new language welcoming De Mistura's convening of informal consultations with Morocco, the Polisario Front, as well as with the members of the Group of Friends of Western Sahara: France, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, during the period from 27 to 31 March 2023 in New York.
The latest report by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on MINURSO, dated 3 October 2023, notes that the informal bilateral consultations aimed to discuss lessons learned from the political process, to deepen the examination of positions and to continue the search for "mutually acceptable formulas" to move the political process forward.
In this resolution, adopted with 13 votes in favour and two abstentions (Mozambique and Russia), the Security Council called on the parties to the conflict (Morocco and the Polisario Front) to "resume negotiations under the auspices of the Secretary-General, without preconditions and in good faith," with the objective of achieving "a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara."
Reacting to the renewal of MINURSO's mandate for a further year, the Polisario Front affirmed that "there is no alternative to the free and democratic exercise by the people of Western Sahara of their right to self-determination and independence," believing that the Council had once again missed the opportunity to adopt concrete measures likely to enable MINURSO to fully assume its mission in accordance with Resolution 690 of 1991.
He deplored the silence of the UN Security Council and of some of its influential members on the violation by the Moroccan occupier of the ceasefire in force since 1991, maintaining that this violation endangers the peace process and threatens security in the region. The holding of this session comes in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2703, adopted on 30 October 2023, renewing MINURSO's mandate for a further year, until 31 October 2024.
The resolution introduced new language welcoming De Mistura's convening of informal consultations with Morocco, the Polisario Front, as well as with the members of the Group of Friends of Western Sahara: France, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, during the period from 27 to 31 March 2023 in New York.