Togo reaffirmed, before the Fourth Committee (4C) of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), its support for the Moroccan Autonomy Plan, as “the compromise solution” to the regional dispute over the Sahara.
Chargé d’affaires at the Permanent Mission of the Togolese Republic to the United Nations (UN), Koffi Akakpo, reiterated the Togolese delegation’s “commitment to the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty and support for the Moroccan Autonomy Plan, which is clearly the compromise solution to this regional dispute, in accordance with international law”.
Akakpo also praised the socio-economic development of the Moroccan Sahara thanks to the investments and projects implemented as part of the New Development Model for the Kingdom’s Southern provinces, adding that this model, launched in 2015, has greatly contributed to empowering populations and improving human development indexes in the Moroccan Sahara.
The Togolese diplomat stressed that his country welcomes the opening of approximately 30 consulates general in Laâyoune and Dakhla by countries from the Arab world, Africa (including Togo), America, and Asia, and regional organizations.
The UN official noted that these consulates general aim to boost economic and social opportunities in the Moroccan Sahara as a hub for development, stability, and influence in the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and African regions.
In a similar context, the diplomat underlined that Togo “supports and encourages” the efforts of the United Nations Secretary-General’s (UNSG) Personal Envoy, Staffan de Mistura, notably the bilateral consultations he has held with the parties concerned by the Moroccan Sahara issue, as well as his field visits, the latest of which date back to September 2023.
Stressing that these efforts aim to facilitate the relaunch of the political process under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary-General (UNSG), the Togolese diplomat called on all parties to commit throughout these consultations to reach a political, realistic, pragmatic, and compromising solution to the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, as requested by the Security Council (SC).
The diplomat commended Morocco’s firm commitment to the ceasefire in the Moroccan Sahara, as well as its full and continued cooperation with the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Sahara (MINURSO), calling on the relevant parties to respect the ceasefire and cooperate with the UN Mission.
The Togolese delegation also hailed Morocco’s “remarkable” achievements in the field of human rights, notably the strengthening of the role of the National Human Rights Council’s (CNDH) Regional Commissions in Laâyoune and Dakhla, and bilateral cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the treaty bodies, and the special procedures of the Human Rights Council (HRC).
