The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has released his annual report on the situation in Western Sahara, recognizing the viability of UN Security Council Resolution 2797 in reviving negotiations around the long-standing dispute.
A draft of the report attributed to UN Secretary-General Guterres says the resolution gave renewed momentum to the UN-led political process, led by Guterres’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, amid ongoing tensions.
The UN website has included a clickable link to the report, but the link currently does not lead to the document. Reports suggest that the link is expected to become active and lead to the full report by October 16, when the report is expected to be officially published.
The UNSG reiterated the importance of the resolution, stressing that this resolution of October 2025 gave renewed momentum to the political process, citing three rounds of direct negotiations that the US, as the Security Council penholder on Western Sahara, facilitated between the main parties to the dispute, including Algeria, Polisario, Mauritania, and Morocco.
The talks came for the first time in seven years, with Guterres recalling efforts from the UN and the US and their continued work with the main parties to develop a roadmap towards a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable political solution.
The UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2797 in October last year, which the international community described as a historic step toward a lasting resolution of the regional dispute.
The resolution came to end the stagnation of the UN-led political process, with the US stressing the need to find a settlement to the lingering 50-year-old dispute.
The resolution also confirms Morocco’s Autonomy Plan as the only or the most feasible basis to end the conflict. The resolution notably describes the autonomy initiative as a genuine political basis, urging the parties to the dispute to engage in round-table talks and taking the Moroccan proposal as the basis for these negotiations.
Welcoming negotiations between the parties, Guterres also acknowledged he is concerned about the situation in the region, amid “low-intensity hostilities” that continued for nearly six years.
“It is now more important than ever for the parties to cease hostilities and refrain from any actions that could undermine prospects for a political solution,” he said.
The top UN official also strongly called for enhanced and renewed international engagement by Member Stations and regional organizations to “ensure that all agreements reached are supported by international guarantees for their full implementation,” and urged all parties to engage in coordinated negotiations to explore the possibility of achieving genuine autonomy for people of the Sahara.
He said genuine autonomy could “represent the most feasible outcome” in accordance with Resolution 2797.
Challenges persist but progress possible
The new UNSG report, however, acknowledges challenges, including Polisario’s continued breaching of the ceasefire as well as lack of trust between the parties.
Guterres said despite these challenges, prospects for tangible progress towards a settlement of the conflict remain.
Prior to the report, the US had been firm in stressing that the dispute over Western Sahara should end, noting the importance of the Moroccan Autonomy Plan as the only feasible political solution to end the dispute.
In September, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz met with a delegation from the separatist group of Polisario, shutting down their outdated claims and narratives pushed and backed by the Algerian regime, which has long refused to shoulder its responsibility in the dispute to challenge Morocco’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over its southern provinces in Western Sahara.
Waltz reiterated the US unwavering position following talks with the Algerian-backed separatist group, stating refugees in the Tindouf camps have waited 50 years.
“They deserve real choices, not another decade of waiting. The basis for a solution is on the table,” he said, referring to the Moroccan autonomy plan as the only basis able to end the dispute.
The US has long viewed the Autonomy Plan as a serious and credible basis. But another milestone marked the dossier when US President Donald Trump recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over its southern provinces in December 2020, and endorsed the plan as the sole path to settlement.
The UN Resolution of October 2025 further hardened that line, urging the main parties to engage in talks, and instructed the political process to proceed on the basis of Morocco’s autonomy initiative as the genuine political framwork for talks.
Following the adoption of the resolution, King Mohammed VI declared October 31 Unity Day, a national holiday in Morocco, celebrating the irreversibility of the Moroccan momentum on the Sahara question.
Algeria’s role in the dispute
Polisario and its sponsors in Algiers have been attempting to deny the changing reality on the ground by continuing to embrace their outdated narratives and pushing for an already sidelined referendum on self-determination. De Mistura, the UN Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, held a conference on November 5 last year, describing the resolution as important as it demonstrates renewed international momentum for resolving the dispute.
He also welcomed the US efforts, stating the resolution provides a framework for negotiations.
De Mistura further denied Algeria’s observer claims, emphasizing the resolution clearly names the parties to the dispute as Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco, and Polisario, urging all of them to engage in talks and efforts to contribute to finding a lasting and mutually acceptable political solution based on the latest resolution.
He then relaunched direct negotiations with all parties, including Algeria’s regime, which continues to drag its feet while misleadingly claiming to be an observer rather than a full-fledged main party to the dispute, although it has for decades hampered the UN-led political process from continuing, allowing the Western Sahara dispute to serve its political agenda in support of separatism against Moroccan interests.
Algeria has historically harbored, supported, armed, and financed the Polisario militias, which pose threats to the region due to their documented links with terrorists in the Sahel and other activities like embezzlement of funds and aid directed to Sahrawis. Algeria also continues to oppose a census of the Tindouf camps, with some Sahrawis attributing the situation to the low number of actual Sahrawis, as many who live there are also coming from Tuareg and Algeria itself.
UNHCR continues to urge a census due to the dire situation in the camps, including the spread of diseases like anemia among pregnant women and children, as well as all stranded Sahrawis who are also unable to move freely in their ghost country, Algeria.
