The 1991 Ceasefire and the UN Settlement Plan

The Road to the Settlement Plan

After years of conflict, Morocco and the Polisario accepted UN settlement proposals on 30 August 1988, developed jointly by the United Nations and the Organisation of African Unity. The plan envisioned a ceasefire followed by a referendum.

This breakthrough opened the path to a formal UN role. The aim was to allow the population of the Sahara to choose between integration with Morocco and independence under international supervision.

Resolution 690 and MINURSO

On 29 April 1991 the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 690, establishing the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, known by its French acronym MINURSO. Its task was to implement the Settlement Plan.

The plan provided for a transitional period during which the Secretary-General's Special Representative would oversee preparations for the referendum, including the work of identifying who was eligible to vote.

The Ceasefire of September 1991

The Secretary-General proposed that the ceasefire take effect on 6 September 1991, a date both parties accepted. On that day the guns largely fell silent and MINURSO began deploying.

The 1991 ceasefire ended the main phase of open warfare. Despite later tensions, it held for many years and became one of the most durable outcomes of the entire UN process.

Why the Referendum Stalled

The transitional period never truly began, because the parties held sharply divergent views on key elements of the plan, above all the criteria for who was eligible to vote. Identifying a credible electorate proved intractable.

The voter-eligibility deadlock eventually convinced UN mediators that a simple binary referendum was unworkable, paving the way for new approaches such as the Baker Plans and, later, Morocco's autonomy proposal.

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