Report of the Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara

Date: 
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Countries: 
Western Sahara
Report Analysis: 

  • Submitted pursuant to S/RES/1979 (2011) of 27 April 2011, where the SC extended the mandate of MINURSO until 30 April 2012 and requested an update of the situation on the ground, the report covers the status and progress of the negotiations and existing challenges to MINURSO’s operations.

  • There were no references made to women, peace and security in the report.

  • The report does not specifically call for a human rights monitoring mechanism to be included in MINURSO’s mandate.

  • WPS concerns are notably absent from reporting on SGBV, justice mechanisms for SGBV, women’s political participation, women’s civil society, and in discussion of mechanisms to ensure gender equality is entrenched.

  • The most substantial reference to WPS issues is in discussion of the gender imbalance in the mission’s staff where the SG specifically states that he would welcome further deployments of female staff for operational reasons and to improve the Mission’s gender imbalance (para. 26).

The report is an update on Western Sahara and MINURSO mandate since 1 April 2011.