On 16 August 2007, ACCORD’s Intervention Department held a one-day seminar on the theme Western Sahara: Negotiations and Perspectives towards Resolution of the Saharawi Question. The seminar was co-hosted with the South African Department of Foreign Affairs. The aim of the seminar was to reflect on the current situation towards the resolution of the Western Sahara conflict.
The seminar provided an opportunity for initial reflection on the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1754 (of 2007) calling on both parties to engage in direct talks without preconditions with a view to achieving a “…just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution that will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.”
The key speakers at the seminar included Mr. M’Hamed Khadad, Chief Negotiator on the Saharawi Committee of Co-ordination at the United Nations; Prof. Carlos Ruiz Miguel from the Department of Public Law and State Theory, University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain; and Ms. Karin Scheele the President of the Parliamentary Intergroup of Solidarity with the Saharawi People at the European Union.
In attendance were members of the diplomatic community, political parties, civil society groups and the media.
