New York (United Nations), 14 December 2025 (SPS) – Spanish actor and film producer Javier Bardem, upon receiving the World Citizen of the Year Award from the United Nations Correspondents Association, stressed the need to respect the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination.
He called on the international community to stand “urgently” alongside the Sahrawis, to ensure their full enjoyment of all their legitimate rights, and to protect their freedom, dignity, and national and cultural identity.
In his address to the audience in New York, as reported by the Spanish outlet El Diario, Bardem emphasized that the Sahrawi people are living through a “critical phase” that requires the international community to reaffirm their legitimate rights, particularly their inalienable right to self-determination, in accordance with international law and United Nations resolutions.
Bardem added that the defense of journalism and human rights is inseparably linked to supporting the just causes of occupied peoples, noting that a free press plays a fundamental role in exposing violations and shedding light on crimes that may otherwise go unpunished. This was a reference to the policy of media blackout practiced by the Moroccan occupation in the occupied Sahrawi territories in order to conceal its serious human rights violations.
In this context, he stressed that “journalism shapes our collective understanding of the world. It is not merely the transmission of news, but a tool that transforms distant suffering into realities we can touch and deeply feel, making us aware of what is happening in places far away. Journalism gives us the ability to see reality as it is and reminds us that ignoring these facts is not an option, and that it is our duty to listen to and pay attention to the voices of those who live this suffering and to understand their human stories in all their details.”
Bardem concluded by affirming that “true global citizenship can only be achieved by recognizing the rights of peoples and exposing violations, including those suffered by the Sahrawi people.”
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