UN Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Alexander Ivanko, Minurso’s former head, to lead the mission’s liquidation after its mandate lapsed without renewal. The UN presence in the Sahara moves from peacekeeping to withdrawal and site closures.
Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric announced it Friday, November 6, in New York. Ivanko will lead all liquidation activities, supported by the Department of Operational Support.
The liquidation entity that will be responsible for carrying out all liquidation activities. — UN announcement, on the body Ivanko will head
The job covers sending military observers home, removing or disposing of UN equipment and assets, and ending administrative and logistical commitments. The UN’s early-November plan: about 160 observers repatriated, 180 posts cut, and roughly 13 sites closed and handed over. Ivanko has overseen Minurso since August 2021, after serving as its chief of staff from 2009.
On Morocco’s side, the Royal Office said on November 4 that King Mohammed VI instructed the “Office for coordination with Minurso”, under the Interior Ministry, to take charge of coordinating and supporting the liquidation and withdrawal “in a smooth and orderly manner”, in a spirit of “responsibility and cooperation with the United Nations”. Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit attended the King’s working session that day.
The decision followed the Security Council’s failure to extend the mandate, which ended October 31. Russia vetoed a US draft, and a rival Russian draft fell short of the votes. Liquidation began November 1, 35 years after Minurso was created in 1991, and will proceed gradually.