C24: Gabon reaffirms its support for the autonomy plan to resolve the regional dispute over the Sahara

Hibapress

Gabon stressed, before the members of the UN Committee of 24 (C24), that the Moroccan autonomy initiative for the Sahara, which enjoys strong international support, presents “credible” prospects for definitively resolving the regional dispute around the Moroccan Sahara.

“We remain convinced that the Moroccan autonomy initiative presents credible, viable and compromise prospects, making it possible not only to put an end to the current political impasse, but also to achieve a negotiated and acceptable political solution to finally resolve this regional dispute which persists,” underlined Lia Berthiana Bouanga Ayoune, Advisor to the Permanent Mission of Gabon to the UN.

Speaking at the C24 regional seminar for the Caribbean held recently in Caracas, the diplomat noted that the enthusiasm around the Moroccan initiative, marked in particular by the accession of around a hundred countries around the world, clearly shows its reliability, noting that the credibility of this initiative has always been affirmed in successive Security Council resolutions.

Referring to the dynamics of socio-economic development in the southern provinces, she indicated that Morocco is making permanent efforts to improve the living conditions of the populations of this region, noting that the new development model for the Saharan provinces launched in 2015 had a strong upward impact on human development indices.

This socio-economic progress strengthens international cooperation in the region, she said, noting that today, more than thirty countries around the world including Gabon have opened consulates general in Laâyoune and Dakhla. .

Likewise, the Gabonese diplomat welcomed Morocco’s substantial achievements in the area of ​​human rights, welcoming in this regard the strengthening of the role of the regional commissions of the National Human Rights Council in Laâyoune and Dakhla, bilateral cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, treaty bodies and special procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

She recalled in this context that these efforts were welcomed by the resolutions of the UN Security Council, in particular 2703 adopted in October 2023.

After welcoming the efforts of the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for the Moroccan Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, in favor of relaunching the political process under the exclusive auspices of the United Nations, the Gabonese diplomat called for the resumption round tables with the same four participants, with a view to reaching a viable political solution, as recommended by the numerous Security Council resolutions adopted since 2007.

At the same time, she welcomed the participation of representatives of the Moroccan Sahara democratically re-elected during the September 2021 ballot, in the various C24 regional seminars, including the one meeting in Caracas.