OUISO presentation

This observatory seeks to sustain the lively exchanges between researchers, students, journalists, human rights activists and NGO representatives (based in the Saharawi refugees camps of Tindouf as well as in the territories under Moroccan occupation) that sprung from the international conference held in the Sorbonne University from June 2-3 2016. We consider that it is necessary to create a platform aimed at supporting the exchange of scientific information over Western Sahara, bringing together all university students interested in this issue on an international scale.

This observatory is administratively located in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Sorbonne University, but it is composed of a large international group of academic associates. Its objective is to respond to the need for rigorous analysis and information about Western Sahara, supporting and promoting research on different subjects (governance, human rights, migration flows, history and memory, cultural and communication transformations, cultural heritage, political dynamics, activisms, etc.).

The aims of OUISO :

• To promote and support research in SHS about Human and social sciences about the Western Sahara

1. 1. Carry out, create and/or support research projects on current issues that require further knowledge
   2. Establish a network of Saharawi observers on the field (students with the capacity to conduct research and produce qualitative and/or quantitative data about Western Sahara and the Saharawi diaspora)
   3. Encourage meetings between researchers and students from different universities (organize workshops on key issues and offer cross-disciplinary exchanges)… throughout training activities

• … throughout training activites

1. 1. Favor students research projects on Western Sahara
   2. Provide methodological support to Saharawi students in order to strengthen their research skills
   3. Promote researchers’ latest publications
   4. Encourage methodological and bibliographic exchanges between Saharawi and non-Saharawi students
   5. Facilitate the access to SHS courses for Sahrawi students abroad
   6. Facilitate the publication of scholarly works on Western Sahara
   7. Provide mutual assistance for the re-reading and translation of works in different languages

• Networks

1. Encourage contact within a network of interested students with the aim of promoting this academic issue
2. Create a database of researchers and students working or having worked on Western Sahara
3. Create bridges between the Saharawi academic community and the international academic world
4. Facilitate exchanges between different linguistic communities

• Storage and data exchange

1. Archiving academic documents on Western Sahara that are available electronically: sorted thematically and by authors’ names.
2. Gather and provide access to master’s and thesis projects on Western Sahara and the Saharawi population
3. Update a bibliography / filmography / thematic website
4. Establish a special fund on Western Sahara in the Faculty of SHS of the Sorbonne University’s library.

• Internal and external communication

1. Informational exchange within an academic space (organize a summer/winter seminar between students and researchers, both Sahrawi and non-Sahrawi, support panels and seminars on Western Sahara, organize an international seminar every 4 years)
2. Provide a specialization service aimed at the media, civil society and political institutions (constituting a panel of experts capable of communicating and potentially responding to external demands for information)
3. Informing the general public (lectures on topical issues, producing and sharing videos online in which researchers offer their analysis on key issues)

An International Scientific Committee

The tasks of the Scientific committee are the following ones : scientific sponsorship, timely consultation on the quality of various publications, international dissemination of the Observatory

A Steering Committee

The tasks of the Steering Committee are the following ones : website animation, fundraising, training support, communication, management and administration.