Youth Union of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro
Encyclopedia
Sahrawi Youth Union, also known as UJSARIO (its Spanish
abbreviation for Unión de la Juventud de SAguia el Hamra y RIo de Oro), is the youth organization of the Polisario Front
.
, Algeria
, organizing youth and students within the exile community, and promoting the interest of the youth within the POLISARIO and the Sahrawi republic
.
The work of UJSARIO is divided in different national areas:
It has extensive international contacts with other youth political or cultural movements, especially in Spain, like the Spanish Youth Council or the Spanish Youth Organization. It is a full member of the Arab Youth Union, General Union of Arab Students
, the World Federation of Democratic Youth
, the International Falcon Movement - Socialist Educational International, the International Union of the Socialist Youth, the African Youth Union, the Pan African Youth Movement
and the Youth for Development and Cooperation (YDC). It campaigns for a free Western Sahara
, and tries to organize international youth exchanges and opportunities for refugee Sahrawis to study abroad.
Its present general secretary is Musa Salma.
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
abbreviation for Unión de la Juventud de SAguia el Hamra y RIo de Oro), is the youth organization of the Polisario Front
Polisario Front
The POLISARIO, Polisario Front, or Frente Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro is a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement working for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco...
.
Organization
UJSARIO was founded in 1984 through the merger of Unión de Estudiantes Saharauis (Sahrawi Students' Union) and the Polisario Front youth. It operates from the Sahrawi refugee camps in TindoufTindouf
Tindouf is the main town in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Mauritanian and Moroccan borders. The region is considered of strategic significance, and it houses Algerian military bases. Since 1975, it also contains several Sahrawi refugee camps operated by the Polisario Front a guerrilla...
, Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, organizing youth and students within the exile community, and promoting the interest of the youth within the POLISARIO and the Sahrawi republic
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is a partially recognised state that claims sovereignty over the entire territory of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony. SADR was proclaimed by the Polisario Front on February 27, 1976, in Bir Lehlu, Western Sahara. The SADR government controls about...
.
The work of UJSARIO is divided in different national areas:
- Juvenile groups in the Wilayas, Institutions, Occupied territories and Europe.
- Union of Sahrawi Students.
- Organization and integration of the young women.
- Organization of scouts groups.
- Volunteer groups.
It has extensive international contacts with other youth political or cultural movements, especially in Spain, like the Spanish Youth Council or the Spanish Youth Organization. It is a full member of the Arab Youth Union, General Union of Arab Students
General Union of Arab Students
General Union of Arab Students is a federation of student organizations in the Arab world. The headquarters of the organization are based in Damascus, Syria. The general secretary of GUAS is Nidal Ammar....
, the World Federation of Democratic Youth
World Federation of Democratic Youth
The World Federation of Democratic Youth is a progressive youth organization, recognized by the United Nations as an international youth non-governmental organization. WFDY describes itself as an "anti-imperialist, left-wing" organisation...
, the International Falcon Movement - Socialist Educational International, the International Union of the Socialist Youth, the African Youth Union, the Pan African Youth Movement
Pan African Youth Movement
Pan African Youth Movement is the former name for the Panafrican Youth Union. Based in Algiers, it changed its name and structure at its last congress in 2003 in Namibia. Formed in 1962 in Conakry, Guinea to rally African youth behind the cause of African liberation. It was most commonly referred...
and the Youth for Development and Cooperation (YDC). It campaigns for a free Western Sahara
Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...
, and tries to organize international youth exchanges and opportunities for refugee Sahrawis to study abroad.
Its present general secretary is Musa Salma.
Objectives
- Educate the SahrawiSahrawiMost frequently in English language usage, the term Sahrawi is usually used in reference to populations from the disputed Western Sahara territory, sometimes with a nationalist connotation....
human being free and worthy. - Validate the young people dialogue according to reality.
- Participation of all the youth in the field of the struggle and construction of the liberation.
- Increase the amity links with all the organizations, councils, student groups and youth groups abroad, to spread the Sahrawi cause worldwide and cooperate mutually.
- Support the Sahrawi youth in the Occupied Territories and achieve that the human rightsHuman rightsHuman rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
organizations and the mediaMass mediaMass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
could visit them and destroy the media blockage imposed by Morocco, as well as guaranteeing the continuinity of the work of the external organization. - Persevere the personal-national resistance, and establish it as the fundamental base of the customs and traditions of the Sahrawi society.
- Attention to the childhood and the youth, as well as develop the work of the student groups abroad.
- Prepare the new generations of Sahrawi boys and girls, youth and students; train them and assure that they are ready to work for their people and it's just cause.
- Use of all the mechanisms for the continuity of the struggle and assume the future responsibilities in the government of a free and independent Sahara.
- Programation of activities that require the participation of the youth, and that coincide with the general objectives of the UJSARIO.