The Sahrawi woman celebrates, Wednesday, the International Women’s Day with nevertheless a feeling of incompleteness, as her country is still under occupation by Morocco, which violates her rights and deprives her of her freedom, essential conditions to pursue her struggle and hope one day to carry very high the banner of freedom of her homeland.
Thus, March 8 is a stop for Sahrawi women to remember the endless suffering inflicted on them by the Moroccan occupier and to denounce Morocco’s inhumane actions in the occupied Sahrawi territories, where the honour and dignity of Sahrawi women are scorned on a daily basis in an attempt to dissuade these women from believing in the struggle for the independence of Western Sahara.
However, International Women’s Day is also an opportunity for Sahrawi women to express their pride in their sacrifices and their merciless struggle against the Moroccan occupier, especially as it continues to increase its violations in the occupied territories.
In this context, the Sahrawi Minister of Cooperation, Fatima Al-Mahdi, said that the celebration of International Women’s Day has two dimensions.
On the one hand, it recalls the first Sahrawi martyr who fell on the battlefield against the occupier, and on the other hand it is an opportunity to consider the achievements and sacrifices of Sahrawi women, in order to free themselves from the colonial yoke and to regain the smallest part of their occupied territories.
Recalling, in this context, that the role of Sahrawi women has always been central and decisive, whether during the Spanish colonial period or during the war of liberation against the Moroccan military machine since 1975, Ms. Al-Mahdi stressed that “the participation of Sahrawi women is closely linked to the Sahrawi national project aimed at inculcating in the Sahrawi people the principles of justice and law, particularly equality between men and women.
In this regard, she said that “Sahrawi women have a prominent role, not only on the front line, but also on the political, cultural, economic and social fields”.
She believes that Sahrawi women represent a unique and special model, as they have been at the forefront of the Sahrawi people’s battle to get rid of the Moroccan occupier and have strongly participated in official bodies.
And in the framework of the politics led by the Polisario Front, the sole and legitimate representative of the Saharawi people, Ms Al-Mahdi stressed that “women have been an important element that has benefited from this policy and have been able to implement a unique experience by being leaders in difficult situations”.
They are at the same time the pillar of the Saharawi family in educating a generation that aspires to independence and emancipation from the colonial yoke, and they participate in political life and hold positions of responsibility.
