We will continue to march until all our territories are free!
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), better known as Western Sahara, is a region in Northwest Africa bordered by Algeria to the East, Mauritania to the South, Morocco to the North, and the Atlantic Ocean to the West. The region, which remained under Spain’s colonial rule between 1884-1976 and then occupied by Morocco and Mauritania, witnessed the independence struggle of the Sahrawi people first against the colonial and then the occupying powers for 60 years.
Sahrawi people are still fighting for the recognition of the Sahrawi cause at the international level, the liberation of the territory of Western Sahara, raising awareness of their right to self-determination through a free and fair referendum, the expulsion of the invading army, and the recognition of the Democratic Republic of Sahara. Today, Western Sahara is the oldest unresolved conflict in Africa. The problem in Western Sahara is still unresolved, where the legacy of colonialism, geopolitical interests, and the regional struggle for influence between Morocco and Algeria are intertwined.
Women of Sahrawi are great fighters and have been the pillars of this resistance. They have been active key subjects in the Sahara independence struggle from the very beginning, both in times of war and peace. Thanks to the extraordinary efforts and socio-political activity of Sahrawi women living in the middle of a desert, the Sahrawi people were able to arrange their political, economic, and social lives in refugee camps. Being at the crossroads of all social reproduction processes, they organized life from scratch.
The World March of Women supports the struggle of the Sahrawi people for self-determination and their right to sovereignty over their territory, their culture, and their ways of life; we are calling on everyone to strengthen international feminist solidarity with the Sahrawi people. Militarized imperialism overrides the self-determination of countries and the sovereignty of the peoples, imposing free trade agreements and economic blockades; threatening food sovereignty, health, and education; driving the exploitation of common goods and the climate crisis through transnational corporations; promoting drug and people trafficking, racism and xenophobia; and politically and economically destabilizing everywhere it goes. They are linked to each other with colonialism, racism, and authoritarianism.
As the World March of Women, we will continue to denounce wars, sanctions, and occupations in Palestine, Yemen, Afghanistan, Mali, Western Sahara, and other territories.
We will carry on the feminist struggle for peace until all women and territories are free!
A special WMW material on the struggles in Western Sahara that can be used in training spaces in groups and NCBs:
ES – https://marchemondiale.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/ES-Saharawi-v5.pdf
EN – https://marchemondiale.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/ENG-Saharawi-V7.pdf
FR – https://marchemondiale.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/FR-Saharawi-v5.pdf
You can watch “A Flag in the Sand: Sahrawi Women Building Sovereignty” in the below link. This is a video produced by the World March of Women and Capire in solidarity with the women of Western Sahara.