ABSTRACT
Building on the earlier coverage of the UN's historical treatment of the Western Sahara Question, this chapter focuses on recent UN practice in this regard. To this end, it analyses the Security Council's approach, as discerned principally from its meetings and resolutions on Western Sahara since 2018 along with the reports produced on this situation by the UN Secretary-General and the work undertaken by Personal Envoys during this period. The chapter also investigates the approach adopted by the General Assembly regarding Western Sahara, not only via its own resolutions by also by recourse to the proceedings of its subsidiary committees – the Special Committee on Decolonisation (‘C24’) and Fourth Committee. This enquiry provides the basis for an assessment of how the UN has responded to recent developments concerning the Western Sahara Question, and sheds light on the positions taken by the membership of its principal political organs.
