This is a call for solidarity for the independence of Africa’s last colony. It is a call for solidarity with the Sahrawi people, who resists the occupation of their territory by Morocco and firmly struggles for sovereignty.
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), known as Western Sahara, is a region in northwestern Africa with borders with Algeria on the east, Mauritania on the south, Morocco on the north, and the Atlantic Ocean on the west. The region remained under Spanish colonial rule between 1884 and 1976 and then it was occupied by Morocco and Mauritania. For more than 50 years, it has witnessed, therefore, the struggle for independence of the Sahrawi people, first against colonial powers, and then against occupying countries.
“While Sahrawi women have to live under extremely difficult conditions, they are struggling for independence and for the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination on the one hand, and, on the other, they are establishing the democratic society of the future,” a WMW statement reads. We denounce the historical occupation of the Sahrawi territory, the violence endured by its people, and the erasure of their history and culture. We state that grassroots organizing and international solidarity are fundamental in the struggle against war and imperialism.
Feminist solidarity is a pillar of the World March of Women, which will hold its 6th International Action in 2025. The end of the occupations in Western Sahara and Palestine is at the center of this action, with the slogan “We march against wars and capitalism, defending the peoples’ sovereignty and good living.”
The opening ceremony of the International Action will happen on March 8 at the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria. We invite women and gender dissident folks, artists, activists, and supportive collectives to join this global mobilization of feminist solidarity with the women who sustain life and the struggle in Western Sahara.
Some materials may inspire the production of posters, like the short documentary film “A Flag in the Sand: Sahrawi Women Building Sovereignty,” produced by Capire and the WMW; this educational document on Western Sahara and Sahrawi women’s struggles, produced by the WMW (available in Spanish, English, and French); and the several writings published here. The posters submitted will be exhibited at a “khayma”—a Sahrawi tent—in Tindouf during the opening ceremony of the 6th International Action of the World March of Women. They will also be available for printing, so they can be brought to March 8 feminist mobilizations across the world.
We call everyone to share their art to empower the public support to the struggle of our Sahrawi sisters and in celebration of the 6th International Action of the WMW. The posters must be standard A3 size, with minimum resolution of 300 dpi, and must be submitted in JPG or PNG format through the form below. The final date to submit posters is February 25th, 2025.
