Western Sahara Resource Watch
Leuven, Belgium
Leuven
Belgium
- Human rights
WSRW aims to preserve the natural resources in occupied Western Sahara for the usage of its people, inasmuch as their sovereignty over those resources is a right with erga omnes character enshrined in numerous UN resolutions and international human rights instruments.
Our objectives:
-To affirm the sovereignty of the Saharawi people over their natural resources
-To break the link between the exploitation of natural resources and the funding of the Moroccan occupation
-To stop and prevent foreign companies from exploitation of natural resources in Western Sahara in disregard of the wishes and interests of the Saharawi people.
-To encourage and support legal actions against companies, governments or multinational organisations that participate in illegal exploration or exploitation activities in Western Sahara.
-To disseminate information and evidence documenting natural resource exploitation in Western Sahara
-To forge a network of organisations that promote the rights of the Saharawi people over their natural resources.
Our principal activities involve lobbying corporations and organisations guilty of illegally plundering the natural resources of the Saharawi people, thereby supporting the continued abuse of Saharawi human rights on the part of Morocco.
We also lobby for inclusion of human rights monitoring in the mandate of the UN Mission to Western Sahara and work in solidarity with Saharawi human rights activists living in the Occupied Territories.
Our specific knowledge and successes lobbying on natural resource issues could be of value for several other network members. In addition, our experience of working as a network spanning several countries could also be useful in terms of good practice sharing.
We wish to find new partners, get involved in network activities and programmes and be eligible to apply for grants to support our human rights work.