CAIRO: Ministers from Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia launched a new round of talks on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) this week amid growing political tensions in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.
The resumption of negotiations follows a failure by the three countries to reach an agreement on a workable mechanism for the talks earlier this month.
The latest discussions are part of efforts mediated by South Africa, current leader of the African Union (AU), to reach a legally binding agreement on filling and operating the controversial dam.
Egypt said in an official statement that it wanted negotiations to resume as soon as possible in order to reach a “fair and balanced agreement” that preserves the water rights of all three countries.
However, Yasser Abbas, Sudan’s irrigation minister, announced that “the Renaissance Dam negotiations are paused indefinitely.”
“The request to extend the negotiations for 10 days is of no use,” he added.
Abbas said that the GERD will have a greater impact on the Roseires Dam in Sudan than on Egypt’s High Dam.
“Sudan is adhering to the African Union’s condition of changing the methodology. We do not aim to stop the negotiations in order to negotiate in closed circles. There is insistence not to complete the negotiations in the absence of experts,” Abbas added.
Ethiopia confirmed that the meeting reached an understanding on the need to continue talks on the rules for the first mobilization and the annual operation of the Renaissance Dam.
“The president of the Executive Council concluded the meeting and urged the parties to develop a text that could be presented to the meeting of heads of state and government,” it said.
The Ethiopian statement indicated that the tripartite technical meeting chaired by the minister of water, irrigation and energy affairs of Ethiopia is expected to resume.
Sudan insists on a change in the previous negotiation approach and that time limits be set to reach understandings on any negotiation issue.
The discussions held this month ended without an agreement between the three countries on the methodology for completing the negotiations in the next phase.
The three countries agreed that each will submit a report to South Africa on the course of the meetings and the implementation of AU decisions made on June 26 and July 21.
The delegations from the three countries had presented their vision to complete the negotiations in the previous round. During the meeting, Egypt stressed the need to implement the decisions of the AU bureau’s meetings, by reaching a binding legal agreement on filling and operating the dam in a way that achieves the common interests of the three countries and secures their water interests.
Sources concerned with the Nile water issue confirmed that the current negotiations face a number of challenges, including the difficulty of agreeing on a mechanism for resolving disputes stipulated in the Declaration of Principles signed between the leaders of countries in 2015, and the careful coordination and exchange of information regarding the operation of water dams in Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, which may lead to major technical problems in the absence of a rapid and compatible mechanism for coordination and exchange of information between the two sides.
Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam talks resume as political tensions mount
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Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam talks resume as political tensions mount
- The latest discussions are part of efforts mediated by South Africa, current leader of the African Union, to reach a legally binding agreement on filling and operating the controversial dam
Iran war chokes aid corridors, obstructing global relief efforts
- “People in dire need of assistance will have to wait longer for food,” said Bauer
- Tents, tarpaulins and lamps destined for Gaza and the West Bank have become stuck in the supply chain, the IOM said
GENEVA: Key humanitarian air, sea and land routes are being constricted by disruption from the war in the Middle East, delaying life-saving shipments to some of the world’s worst crises, 10 aid officials have told Reuters.
The US–Israeli war on Iran entered its seventh day on Friday, convulsing global markets and disrupting supply chains with airspace closures and the halt of shipping through the critical Strait of Hormuz.
Aid to Gaza and Sudan is grinding to a halt and costs are soaring for help to the hundreds of millions suffering hunger crises around the world.
“People in dire need of assistance will have to wait longer for food,” said Jean-Martin Bauer, Director of Food Security at the World Food Programme.
Already, tents, tarpaulins and lamps destined for the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank have become stuck in the supply chain, the International Organization for Migration said.
DUBAI AID HUB HOBBLED BY AIR AND SEA RESTRICTIONS
Aid groups say higher operational costs are straining budgets already facing massive donor cuts. The IOM said shipping firms were demanding emergency surcharges of approximately $3,000 per container.
Humanitarian groups stocking goods for rapid regional deployment at warehouses in Dubai’s Humanitarian Hub face challenges moving supplies onto transit routes.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies cannot move trauma kits to help the Iranian Red Crescent with search and rescue from its Dubai hub, where they sit in a estimated 1 million Swiss franc ($1.28 million) pre-positioned emergency stockpile, said Cecile Terraz, a director at the IFRC.
The group cannot move stock through Jebel Ali port — the region’s largest container terminal, which was set on fire by the debris of an intercepted missile — from where cargo normally moves onto planes or into the Strait of Hormuz.
The World Health Organization’s Dubai hub operations are also frozen, regional director Hanan Balkhy said, obstructing 50 emergency requests from 25 countries and hampering operations such as polio vaccination.
Ripple effects farther afield are also likely.
Famine-struck Sudan is particularly exposed due to additional restrictions since February 28 on the Suez Canal and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, the UNHCR said.
“We are particularly concerned about Africa,” said a spokeswoman, adding that some cargoes were being sent around the Cape of Good Hope. The route takes up to three weeks longer.
Costs for fuel, transportation and insurance are also rising, and Terraz said the IFRC may have to cut deliveries to the Iranian Red Crescent.
Emma Maspero, senior manager in Copenhagen of the supply division of the UN children’s body UNICEF, said she hoped flights carrying perishable humanitarian goods such as vaccines could be prioritized amid the airspace restrictions.
