UN Committee backs Western Sahara’s decolonisation status in 152-vote decision

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 16— The United Nations General Assembly’s Fourth Committee has reaffirmed Western Sahara’s status as a decolonisation issue, with 152 countries, including Morocco, voting in favour of an annual resolution amid a decades-long dispute over the territory’s political future.

Two countries, the US and Israel, voted against the resolution, while seven abstained, in a recorded ballot that broke with the committee’s longstanding practice of adopting the text without a vote.

The resolution was adopted on Thursday under the agenda item on implementing the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, maintaining the UN’s treatment of Western Sahara as a Non-Self-Governing Territory.

The vote comes as diplomatic efforts continue to resolve the dispute between Morocco and the Frente Polisario, which seeks self-determination for the Sahrawi people.

The United States delegation requested a recorded vote on all 23 draft resolutions before the committee, including texts that would ordinarily be adopted without a ballot.

The move prompted the vote on Western Sahara’s annual resolution

The outcome preserves the territory’s place on the UN decolonisation agenda, even as negotiations continue over a mutually acceptable political settlement.

Dispute over the territory’s future

Western Sahara has remained disputed since Spain withdrew from the territory in 1975. Morocco controls most of the territory, while the Frente Polisario contests Moroccan sovereignty and advocates Sahrawi self-determination.

The UN has maintained a role in seeking a settlement through its political process and the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).

In its latest reporting on the territory, the UN Secretary-General said the Security Council had called for a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution that provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.

The Security Council’s Resolution 2797, adopted in October 2025, called for negotiations taking Morocco’s autonomy proposal as a basis for talks, while retaining the objective of a mutually acceptable solution that provides for self-determination

In 2026, the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, Staffan de Mistura, helped relaunch direct negotiations involving Morocco, the Frente Polisario, Algeria and Mauritania.

 Three rounds of talks were held in Washington and Madrid in January and February.

Despite the renewed diplomatic engagement, low-intensity hostilities have continued in the territory, according to the Secretary-General’s report.

The report also raised concerns about humanitarian needs among Sahrawi refugees.

The 2026–2027 Sahrawi Refugee Response Plan requires US$179 million, but only US$15 million had been secured for 2026 as of June 30, constraining the delivery of essential services.

A continuing UN process

The Fourth Committee’s decision forms part of the General Assembly’s continuing consideration of Western Sahara under its decolonisation mandate.

 The resolution does not, by itself, settle the dispute or determine the territory’s final status.

The UN has called on the parties to continue pursuing negotiations and avoid actions that could undermine prospects for a peaceful settlement.

​Bruhan Makong is a Senior News Reporter for Capital FM in Nairobi, covering diplomacy, foreign policy, national security, climate, and human rights across East Africa and the wider region.