New York, June 11, 2018.At the session of the United Nations Committee on Decolonization, dedicated to the Question of Western Sahara, the Permanent Representative of Cuba, Ambassador Anayansi Rodríguez Camejo, reiterated the permanent support of the island for a just and definitive solution to the question of Western Sahara, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations.
The diplomat said that 55 years ago the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United Nations declared Western Sahara as a Non-Self-Governing Territory; whereas in the last 22 years numerous resolutions of the General Assembly, the Security Council and the African Union have ratified the right to independence and self-determination of the Saharawi people, pursuant to United Nations resolution 1514 (XV) on the granting of Independence to colonial countries and peoples.
The Cuban diplomat referred to the support of the UN General Assembly for the ongoing negotiation process with a view to achieving a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution leading to the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara; She commended the Secretary-General and his Special Envoy for Western Sahara for their efforts in this regard and called upon the parties to cooperate with the International Committee of the Red Cross and to fulfill their obligations under international humanitarian law.
Rodríguez Camejo insisted that the Saharawi people require the support of the international community. As a demonstration of the Cuban support, she stressed that since 1976, Cuba has been providing uninterrupted aid to the Saharawi people and since then Cuban Medical Brigades have worked in refugee camps in North Africa to alleviate the needs of its population. Likewise, the island has contributed to the training of human resources, graduating, in the year 2017, a total of 2,876 Sahrawi students from higher education.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations