nited Nation /2 0 17/ 362

r ro v isio nnl
_6 April 20 17

Original: Englis h

merica: d raft resolu ti on

The Securit y Counci l

R ec(/ /l ill~ and rea ffirm ing all its previous reso lutions on Western Sahara,
Reaffi rming its stro ng su pport for t he efforts of the Secretary-General and his
Personal Envoy to implement resolutions 1754 (200 7) , 178 3 (2 007 ). 18 13 (20 08 ),
1&71 (2 009) , 192 0 (2010) . 197 9 (2011), 2 044 (2 0 12) , 209 9 (2 0 13) . 2 152 (2 0 14).
221 8 (2 0 15), and 22 85 (2 01 6),

Reoffirm ing its commi tment to assist the part ies to achieve a j ust. lasting, and
mutually accepta ble po litical solution, which will provide for the sel f-determination
of the people of Western Sahara in thc context of arrangements consistent with the
princip les and purposes o f the Charter of the United Nations, and notin g the role
and res ponsibilities o f the parties in this respect,
Reiterating its ca ll upon the parties and the neigh bouring states to cooperate
more fu lly with the United Nations and with eac h other and to strengthen their
involvement to end the current impasse and to achieve progress to wards a political
solution,
Recognizing that achiev ing a politica l solution to this long-standing d ispute
and enhanced coo peration between the Member States o f lite Maghreb Arab Union
wou ld contribute to stability and security in the Sahc l reg ion.
Welco ming the efforts of the Secretary-Ge neral to keep all peacekeeping
operations, including the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western
ahara (MINURSO) , under close review and reiter ating the need for the Council to
purs ue II rigorous, strateg ic approac h to peace keeping deployrnents, and effective
managemen t of resources.
Emphasizing the need to reg ularly eva luate MINU RSO 's performance such
that the mission retains the ski lls and flexibility nee ded to effective ly carry out its
manda te,
Further emphasizing that hiring, retention and assignment processes or the
United Nations for tv!I NURSO should 3110w for mission struct ures 10 qu ickly and
easi ly adapt 10 changing operatio na l environme nts, and noting the Secretary
Gene ra l's intention to re form these processes to make the Organization more
nimble,
Recognizin g the important role played by MINURSa on the ground and the
need fo r it to fully implemen t its man date. incl uding its role in supporting the
Personal Envoy 10 achieve a mutually accep table politica l solution,

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Express ing Concern about the violations of exist ing agreements " and culling 0 11
t ile part ies to respect the ir re leva nt ob ligar ions,

Taking II Ofe o f the Moroccan propos al prese nted on II Apr il 2007 IQ the
ecre tary-Genera I and welcom ing ser ious and cre d ible Moroccan effort s to move
the process forward to wards reso lution: also raking not e o f I he Polisario Front
pro posa l presen ted 10 Ap ri 11 00 7 to the Sccrctu ry-G eneral,
Enco uraging in th is context, the par ties to de monstrate fu rther po litical will
to wards II solut ion inclu ding by ex pandi ng upon the ir discuss ion of each other ' s
pro posa ls and furth er en coura g ing the neigh bour ing co untries to make contr ibut ions
to th e po Iitica l process.

Taking n ote () r the lo ur rounds o f neg otiation s he Id under the ausp ices of the
Secretary -Gener al and recogniz ing the impor tance of the part ies co rnrniui ng 10
coni i nue the negot iat ions process
Enco uraging the pa rtie s to resume coo per ation with the United Nations Office
o r the High Co mmissione r for Refugees ill i rnpleme nt ing the J anu ary 2012 updated
Plan of Action 011 Co nfid ence-Buil di ng Measures, including prog rammes focused on
linking people who have been di vided for more than 40 year s due to the con fl ict and
fur ther encoura ging the pan ics to con s ide r add ition a l appropr iate confidence
build ina measure s,
Stressing the importance of improvin g the hum an rights situat ion in Western
ahara and the Tindouf ca mps. and encouraging the par ties to work with the
intcrnat ional cornm un ity lO develo p and implement independent and cr edible
meas ures le ens ure full respe ct for human rights . bea rina in mind their re lev ant
ob ligations under imernarional law,
Enc ouraging the parrie s to continue in thei r resp ective effo rts t o enhance the
promoti on and prot ect ion of human rights in Wes tern Saha ra an d the T ind o uf
refugee camp s. incl ud ing the freedo ms of expression and association,
Welcom ing in this regard. the recent ste ps and initiat ives taken by Morocco .
a nd the role played by the National Council on Human Rights Comm iss ions
pcrati ng in Dakh la and Laayo une, and Morocc o 's interact ion with Special
Procedu res of the Unit ed Nations Human R ig lu s Co unc iI.
Co mme nding the: techn ical vis it of the Office o f the United Nat ions High
rnm iss ione r for Human Righ ts (OH CHR ) 10 Western Sahara in Ap ri l 20 15. and to
the Tindo u f re fugee camp s in Jlily -A ugust 101 5, and stro ngly cnc ourug ing
cn hunc ing coo peration with 0 HCI-l R. inc lud ing through faci litat ing further \'is its to
thc region,
'ot ing with deep co ncern tile con tin ued har dships faced by Sa hra wi refugees
and the ir dependency on externa l huma nitari an assistanc e. and f urther llOt/IIR
insuf ficie nt funding for those living in Ti ndou f re fugee camps and the risk of
potential redu cti ons in food assistance ,
Reiterat ing its requ est for co ns ideration or a re fugee registra tion in the
T indou f refugee camps a n cl l!mpha.~i~;lIg efforts be mad e in this regard.
tressing the importance of a co rnmitrneru by t he parties to continuc the
process of negotia tions through the Uni ted Nat ions-sp onsor ed ta lks and
t:llco /lI'tlg ing the meaningful part iciparion o f women in these

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Recognizing that the cons olidation of the status quo is not acceptable, and
noting fur ther that prog ress in the negot iations is esse ntial in orde r to impro ve the
qua lity of life of the people o f Western Sahara in nil its aspects,
Exp ressing gratitude for the efforts of the Secretary-General's Personal Envoy
for Western Sahara, Am bas sad o r Ch risto pher Ross, throughou t his tenure, and
affirming its continue-d ful l su pport fo r the Secretary-Ge neral's Personal Envoy for
Western Saha ra in fac ilitating negotiations bet ween the parties. and colling (1/1 the
parties and neighbour ing states W cooperate fully wit h the Per sona l Envoy,
Affirming full support 1'01' the Spec ia l Repr esentative of the Secre tary-General
for Western Sahara and l lea d ofM INU RSO K im Bo ld uc ,

Having considered the repo rt of the Sec retary-Ge neral of 10 April 201 7
/20 17/3 07),
I. Deci des to exte nd t he mandate of r-..~ I N U RSa until 30 April 20 18;
2. Reaffirms the nee d for filii respect of the m ilitary agre emen ts reache d
w i th t\'!IN U RSa with regard to the ceasefi re a nd call." 011 the parties to adhere fully
to those agreeme nts:

3, Recognizes that the rece nt crisis in the buffer snip in Guerguerai raises
fundamental q uest ions rela ted to the cease fi re an d related ag reeme nts and
encourages I he Sec retary -General to explore ways that such quest ions can be
resolved :
4, Calls IIp nlI al l parties to cooperate fully with the operations of
l\HNUR SO. incl uding its free interac tion with all inter locutors , and to take the
necessary steps to ensure the sec urity of as well as unhindered movemen t and
immedia te access for the Unite d Nat ions and assoc iated personne l in carrying O UI
their mandate, in conform ity with ex isting agreements;
Emphasizes the impor t ance of the parties ' eomIII itmen r to continue the
process of preparat ion for a fifth round of negot iations , and recalls its end orseme nt
of the recommendation in the report of 14 April 2008 (SnO OS/251 ) that realism and
a spirit of co mpro mise by the parties arc essen tia l to ac hieve progress in
negot iations, and enco urages the ne ighbo uring countries 10 make important
contr ibut ions to this process:
6. Calls UpO Il the parties to show polit ical will and work in an atmos phere
pro pitio us for dialogue in order to resume negoti atio ns. thus ensuring
implementat ion of reso lutions 1754 (20 07), 1783 (2007), 18 13 (2008) , 187 1 (2009) .
1920 (20 10). 197 9 (20 11). 2 044 (2 0 12), 209 9 (2 0 13), 215 2 (20 14). and 221 8 (2015)
and the succ ess of negoti ations;
7. Affirms its fu ll su pport for (he co mrnitrncnt or the Sec retary-Ge neral and
his Personal Envoy towards a so lution to the ques tion of Western Sahara in this
context to re launch the nego tiating process with a new dynamic and a new spirit
leading to the resumption of a political process with the aim of reac hing a mutually
acce ptable politica l so lution, which will provide for the se lf-de termination of tile
peop le o f Weste rn Sahara in the context of arrangemen ts co nsistent with the
princ iples and purposes of the Charter of the United Na tions ;
8. Ca lls upon the parties to resume negotiat ions under the auspices of the
Secretary-Genera l without preconditions and In good faith. taki ng into account the
eff o rts made since 2006 and su bsequent de velopmen ts, with a view to ac hieving n
j ust . lasting, and mutua lly acceptab le political solu tio n, which will provide for the
sel f-determ ination of the people of Western Sahara in the contex t of arrange ments

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consis tent with the princ iples and purpos es of the Charter of the United Nations, and
noting the role anti res ponsibi lities o f the part ies in this respect;
<J . In vites Member States 10 lend ap pro priate assista nce to these talks;
10 . Requests the Secretary-Genera l to brie r the Secu rity Counci l On a regular
bas is. and at least twice n year, on the status and prog ress of these negotia tions
under his auspices, on the impl ementation of this resolution. challe nges to
MINURSO'!o opera tio ns and steps taken to add ress them, eXrJ1'CSSl!.~ its intent ion 10
meet to receive and discuss his briefings ancl in this regard. an Jjilr tlwr req uests the
ccrc tary-Gcncral to provide a report on the situat ion in Western Sahara wel l before
the end of the mandate period:
11. Further requ ests the Secretary -Genera l to update the Sec urity CO UIlC i I
within six months of the ap pointmen t of the new Personal Envoy on (I) ways in
wh ich the Per son al Envoy, working with the parties. is prog ress ing towards
mutually acce ptable po litical su lut iun, which will provide for the se lf-determina tion
of the people of Western Sah ara in the context of arra ngeme nts consistent with th
principl es and pur poses of the Charter of the Unite d Natio ns, and present II clear
path forward: (ii) how MINURsa 's perfo rmance measures are being deve loped and
implem en ted (Hi) how st ructures and staffing can be reorgani zed to achieve mission
goa Is efficiently, and ( iv ) how new techno logies ar e being considered to reduce risk,
improve force protection. and better imple ment the mandate of MINURSO ;
l~. Encourages the parties 10 res ume coopera tion with the O ffice of the
United Nat ions High Commissioner 1'0 1' Refu gees lO review and. where possible.
expand con fidence -b uilding measur es ;
l3. Urges Me mber States to pro vide ne w and additiona I volun tary
contr ibutions to fund food progra mmes 10 ensu re that the humanitar ian needs 0
refugees are adequately addressed and avoid redu ctions in food rations:
14. Requests the Secre tary- General to cont inue 10 take the necessa ry
measures 10 ensu re full compliance in r.. t1NURSO with the United Nat ions zero
tol e ranc e policy on sexu a l exp loitation and abuse and to keep the Counc il informe d.
and urges troop-contributing couru rlcs 10 take appropriate pre ventive action
including predeployment aware ness tra ining, and other action to ensu re full
accou ntabil ity in cases of such con duct invo lving their personnel:
15 . Supports an increase in the ratio of medica l perso nne l withi n the curren
uniformed author ization as requested in t he most recent repo rt of the Sec retary
Gene ra l 10 address the severely overstre tched medical capacity of MINURSO;
16. Decides to remai n seize d of the matter.

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