New York (United Nations), 11 December 2023 (SPS) – At its 78th session, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution reaffirming the responsibility of the United Nations towards the Sahrawi people and calling on the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (Committee of 24) to continue to consider the situation of Western Sahara as «a territory subject to decolonization».

Resolution 78/85 was adopted, without a vote, on the question of Western Sahara under item 58 of the agenda of the General Assembly on the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.

The General Assembly requested the Committee of 24 to submit a report on this matter to the General Assembly at its 79th session, and it also called on the UN Secretary-General to present a report on the implementation of this resolution at the next session of the General Assembly.

In a statement to the media, Sidi Mohamed Omar, the representative of the Polisario Front to the United Nations and coordinator with MINURSO, stressed that the resolution adopted by the General Assembly «endorses and confirms the text and spirit of the resolution adopted by the Fourth Committee on October 11, 2023.»

He added that the resolution «reiterates once again the inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination and independence in accordance with the principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter and General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV) containing the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.»

He stressed that the reaffirmation of the responsibility of the United Nations towards the Sahrawi people and the request of the Committee of 24 to continue to consider the situation in Western Sahara «unequivocally confirms the firm position of the United Nations on the international status of the question of Western Sahara as a decolonization issue registered since 1963 on the agenda of the United Nations General Assembly and its relevant bodies, in accordance with Chapter XI of the Charter of the United Nations.»

The Sahrawi official highlighted that «the General Assembly’s reaffirmation of the legal status of the Western Sahara issue as a decolonization issue and the responsibility of the international organization towards the Sahrawi people constitutes another strong blow to the Moroccan occupation state and its attempts to distort the international status of the Sahrawi issue and undermine the legitimate struggle of the Sahrawi people for freedom and independence.»