Added 16th October 2017 01:16 PM
Egypt and Sudan, which are favoured by two colonial agreements of 1929 and 1959 were opposed to the fresh agreement (Cooperative Framework Agreement opened for signing in May 2010) on grounds that it does not recognise their historical rights.
NILE BASIN IMPASSE
A new move to fast track the resolution of the impasse over sharing of the waters of River Nile will involve regular meetings of presidents in the countries sharing the Nile Basin.
This follows a recommendation from the Nile Summit which was chaired by President Yoweri Museveni and convened at State House, Entebbe, three months ago.
“The heads of state provide the highest level of engagement on Nile issues,” said Sam Cheptoris, the Minister of Water and Environment in Uganda, adding that the Summit at Entebbe wanted to constitute the heads of states in the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) and meet regularly.
He was speaking at the Nile Council of Ministers (Nile-Com) convened at Imperial Botanical Resort Beach, Entebbe last week. Nile-COM is the highest decision-making organ on all political and development matters relating to the Nile Basin Initiative.
The meeting was attended by Ministers in charge of Water Affairs from Burundi, Sudan and Uganda. Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania sent representatives.
The countries in the catchment of the Nile are Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, Egypt, Eretria and DR Congo. Eretria is an observer.
Egypt and Sudan, which are favoured by two colonial agreements of 1929 and 1959 were opposed to the fresh agreement (Cooperative Framework Agreement opened for signing in May 2010) on grounds that it does not recognise their historical rights. Both countries pulled out of NBI but Sudan later agreed to return. The countries in the Nile Basin have been discussing to resolve outstanding issues for Egypt to participate in the NBI meetings.
NBI is a framework which was set up in 1999 is a Programme of the 11 countries funded by several donors including the World Bank, GIZ and EU. It has been facilitating the meetings of the ministers and technical negotiators. It was expected to produce two outcomes; the Nile Cooperative Framework and the Nile Basin Commission.
The meeting on Thursday came up with NBI’s 10-year Strategy referred to as the new strategy, approved by the Nile Council of Ministers (Nile-COM). The strategy captures the development goals of the NBI, considering the prevailing context and challenges in the Nile Basin as well as priorities in the catchment of the Nile.
“These have been conceptualized into six goals; namely increasingly hydropower, development and power trade; improving food security; protecting and restoring ecosystems across the basin,” said Kebede Gerba, State Minister, for Water, Irrigation and Electricity of Ethiopia.
“The other goals are improving basin resilience to climate change impacts; strengthening trans-boundary water governance in the Nile Basin as well as enhancing availability and sustainable management of trans-boundary water resources of the Nile Basin.”
Ethiopia’s Minister of Water, Irrigation and Electricity, Dr. Eng. Sileshi Bekele replaced Uganda’s Minister of Water and Environment, Sam Cheptoris. Ethiopia will chair both the Nile Council of Ministers and the Nile Technical Advisory Committee of the NBI for the next one year.
The Nile-COM is the highest decision-making organ on all political and development matters relating to the Nile Basin Initiative. The meeting was attended by Ministers in charge of Water Affairs from Burundi, Sudan and Uganda. Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania sent representatives.
“The River Nile is one of the world’s great assets. As such, cooperation is not a choice, but a necessity, if we are to achieve its sustainable management and development. This is important for Member States to jointly address the shared challenges such as climate change and environmental degradation,” said Gerba.
He said the Nile Basin Development Forum will be hosted by Rwanda on October 23-25, 2017. Rwanda will also host the Nile Media Awards ceremony on October 23, 2017 as well as a Strategic Dialogue Forum between NBI and development partners on October 26, 2017.
A new move to fast track the resolution of the impasse over sharing of the waters of River Nile will involve regular meetings of presidents in the countries sharing the Nile Basin.
This follows a recommendation from the Nile Summit which was chaired by President Yoweri Museveni and convened at State House, Entebbe, three months ago.
“The heads of state provide the highest level of engagement on Nile issues,” said Sam Cheptoris, the Minister of Water and Environment in Uganda, adding that the Summit at Entebbe wanted to constitute the heads of states in the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) and meet regularly.
He was speaking at the Nile Council of Ministers (Nile-Com) convened at Imperial Botanical Resort Beach, Entebbe last week. Nile-COM is the highest decision-making organ on all political and development matters relating to the Nile Basin Initiative.
The meeting was attended by Ministers in charge of Water Affairs from Burundi, Sudan and Uganda. Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania sent representatives.
The countries in the catchment of the Nile are Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, Egypt, Eretria and DR Congo. Eretria is an observer.
Egypt and Sudan, which are favoured by two colonial agreements of 1929 and 1959 were opposed to the fresh agreement (Cooperative Framework Agreement opened for signing in May 2010) on grounds that it does not recognise their historical rights. Both countries pulled out of NBI but Sudan later agreed to return. The countries in the Nile Basin have been discussing to resolve outstanding issues for Egypt to participate in the NBI meetings.
NBI is a framework which was set up in 1999 is a Programme of the 11 countries funded by several donors including the World Bank, GIZ and EU. It has been facilitating the meetings of the ministers and technical negotiators. It was expected to produce two outcomes; the Nile Cooperative Framework and the Nile Basin Commission.
The meeting on Thursday came up with NBI’s 10-year Strategy referred to as the new strategy, approved by the Nile Council of Ministers (Nile-COM). The strategy captures the development goals of the NBI, considering the prevailing context and challenges in the Nile Basin as well as priorities in the catchment of the Nile.
“These have been conceptualized into six goals; namely increasingly hydropower, development and power trade; improving food security; protecting and restoring ecosystems across the basin,” said Kebede Gerba, State Minister, for Water, Irrigation and Electricity of Ethiopia.
“The other goals are improving basin resilience to climate change impacts; strengthening trans-boundary water governance in the Nile Basin as well as enhancing availability and sustainable management of trans-boundary water resources of the Nile Basin.”
Ethiopia’s Minister of Water, Irrigation and Electricity, Dr. Eng. Sileshi Bekele replaced Uganda’s Minister of Water and Environment, Sam Cheptoris. Ethiopia will chair both the Nile Council of Ministers and the Nile Technical Advisory Committee of the NBI for the next one year.
The Nile-COM is the highest decision-making organ on all political and development matters relating to the Nile Basin Initiative. The meeting was attended by Ministers in charge of Water Affairs from Burundi, Sudan and Uganda. Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania sent representatives.
“The River Nile is one of the world’s great assets. As such, cooperation is not a choice, but a necessity, if we are to achieve its sustainable management and development. This is important for Member States to jointly address the shared challenges such as climate change and environmental degradation,” said Gerba.
He said the Nile Basin Development Forum will be hosted by Rwanda on October 23-25, 2017. Rwanda will also host the Nile Media Awards ceremony on October 23, 2017 as well as a Strategic Dialogue Forum between NBI and development partners on October 26, 2017.
