The UWC National Committee of Refugees from Western Sahara selects students from the Saharawi refugee camps in the Tindouf region of Algeria. Since 2002, more than 35 outstanding Saharawi students have been sent on full scholarships to UWC schools around the world, in Norway, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Wales, Costa Rica, India and Hong Kong.

The idea of granting UWC scholarships to Saharawi students from the refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria was conceived in 2002 during a visit to Norway by the Saharawi lecturer at Lund University in Sweden, Yahia M. Mahmoud. Together with members of the UWC National Committee of Norway, Mahmoud visited UWC Red Cross Nordic and discussed the prospect of granting scholarships to Saharawi students. Soon after, the Saharawi national committee was set up as a formal entity. Since then, 10 rounds of selections have taken place in the refugee camps.

The National Committee is currently run entirely by Saharawi UWC alumni.