No Reference to Moroccan Sahara Issue, AU Summit Reaffirms UN Exclusive Role on this Issue

The African Union Assembly, the supreme organ of the pan-African institution, has reaffirmed the United Nations’ exclusivity on the Moroccan Sahara issue, avoiding any reference, quotation or debate on this issue. By avoiding any reference, quotation or debate on this issue, the 36th AU Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government has confirmed the spirit and the letter of Decision 693 on the Moroccan Sahara question, adopted unanimously at the Nouakchott Summit in 2018, which stressed the exclusive competence of the United Nations on the national issue. Indeed, the Moroccan Sahara issue, in all its aspects, has not been the subject of any quotation or reference in the annual report of the AU Peace and Security Council, nor in the working documents and draft decisions considered by the Summit. In full compliance with decision 693, the outgoing and incoming AU Chairpersons, as well as the Chairperson of the Peace and Security Council, have not made any reference to this issue, which falls within the UN exclusive competence. The absence of any quotation or reference to the Moroccan Sahara issue at the AU Summit reaffirms the UN exclusive role on this regional dispute, in accordance with Decision 693, the Union’s sole reference on this issue, which emphasized that the role of the African Union is to provide effective support to UN-led efforts.