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Emphasis given to providing basic needs for Sahrawi refugees to fight impact of Coronavirus pandemic

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Rome, 31 May 2020 (SPS) - The participants in the international conference, which was organized by the Department of Europe in the External Relations of the Polisario Front, in coordination among the representation of the Polisario Front and the International Committee for the Development of Peoples (CISP) in Italy and the Sahrawi Red Crescent, on Saturday agreed on the necessity to raise the level of joint action and coordination among various organizations, international cooperation agencies, Sahrawi bodies and civil society in order to expand the circle of humanitarian support for the refugees.
According to the final statement of the conference, the participants focused on ways and means through which the 15 million dollars set by the UN humanitarian agencies and the Sahrawi Red Crescent could be raised to provide the necessary needs for the refugees in light of the global crisis caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, particularly in the areas of health, water, nutrition and education, as well as the protection of those most affected by the situation.
The statement highlighted that the international assistance to Sahrawi refugees had declined in recent years, despite promises and planning, the result was a constant emergency, along with the stalemate in the political action and the peace plan, all of which exacerbated the situation and conditions of these refugees, which subsequently developed as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing measures that affected air traffic coming to the host country, Algeria.
The conference was attended, besides the Sahrawi Red Crescent, by the National Union of Sahrawi Women, the Algerian Red Crescent, the European Coordination of Solidarity with the Sahrawi People, as well as representatives of international humanitarian organizations and agencies in the Sahrawi refugee camps. (SPS)
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