New York (United Nations), August 24, 2025 (SPS) – The United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres, issued his annual report on Western Sahara, presented during the 80th session of the General Assembly, reiterating that the conflict remains on the United Nations agenda as a decolonization issue and requires "a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable political solution that provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara" (paragraphs 28 and 29).
This reaffirmation once again highlights the legal status of the territory as an occupied territory without self-governance, subject to the United Nations' responsibility to complete the decolonization process.
The report indicated that the current situation is "worrisome and unsustainable," warning of the dangers of the continued political stalemate and escalating military confrontations that threaten regional peace and security.
The Secretary-General called on the two parties to the conflict, the Polisario Front and Morocco, to "change course without delay" and re-engage in the UN-led political process spearheaded by his Personal Envoy, Staffan de Mistura, aiming to reach a final settlement based on relevant Security Council resolutions.
This UN position serves as a direct response to attempts by the occupying State of Morocco and some of its allies to portray the conflict as an "internal" matter or merely a "regional dispute."
The repeated recognition of the right to self-determination reinforces the international legal framework that considers the Sahrawi people the principal party with the right to determine the future of the territory through a free and fair referendum.
It also deals a significant blow to the efforts of the occupying Moroccan State and some of its allies who seek to bypass these legal facts.
According to observers, these conclusions confirm that the United Nations still believes a political solution is contingent on the free will of the Sahrawi people, not on the policies of fait accompli that the occupying state is trying to impose by force and through unilateral projects in the occupied territories.
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