Sao Tome and Principe Welcomes Development in Moroccan Sahara

Sao Tome and Principe welcomed, Tuesday before the Fourth Committee of the UN General Assembly, the economic development experienced by the Moroccan Sahara thanks to the Kingdom’s investment efforts in its southern provinces to “improve the living conditions of the populations of this region and their empowerment”.

“My delegation, aware of the economic growth experienced by the Sahara thanks to Morocco’s investment efforts and in recognition of the territorial integrity of the Kingdom, has inaugurated, like other African countries, a consulate general in Laayoune”, said the representative of Sao Tome and Principe before the Committee.

“Sao Tome and Principe welcomes the Moroccan investments in the Sahara, which fall within the framework of the Sahara development model launched in 2015, which aims to improve the living conditions of the populations of this region and their empowerment by benefiting from the resources at their disposal,” the diplomat stressed.

He also congratulated Morocco for its efforts and achievements in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, including in the Sahara region.

“My country joins other countries in welcoming the substantial achievements of Morocco in the field of human rights, hailed by the resolutions of the Security Council, in particular resolution 2494, such as the strengthening of the role of the regional Commissions of the National Council for Human Rights in Laâyoune and Dakhla, bilateral cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, treaty bodies and special procedures of the Human Rights Council “, said the representative of Sao Tome and Principe.

Referring to the political process, the diplomat stressed that his country supports the process under way, “carried out under the exclusive auspices of the United Nations Secretary General, which aims to reach a mutually acceptable and negotiated political solution to the regional dispute over the Sahara, based on realism and a spirit of commitment, as recommended by the 16 resolutions of the Security Council, since 2007”.

“My delegation supports a realistic, pragmatic and durable political solution to this regional dispute established by the Security Council. In this regard, my delegation welcomes the holding of two round tables with the participation of Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania and the “Polisario”, as well as the agreement by all participants to meet for a third round table, in the same format and with the same participants, in order to deepen the debate on points of agreement,” he said.

He stressed in this regard that it is “certainly important that the four participants remain engaged, showing realism and spirit of commitment, throughout the political process (…), as requested by the Security Council, in particular in its resolution 2494, adopted on October 30, 2019 “, specifying that in this resolution the Security Council insists on the need to move towards a political, realistic, pragmatic and durable solution based on compromise.

“Thus, this resolution established the round table process as the only way to achieve this political solution. We believe that the next personal envoy of the Secretary-General will continue the work done by his predecessor Horst Köhler,” concluded the representative of Sao Tome and Principe.