Nile basin states water Ministers to meet in
Ethiopia next week
20 June, 2010 | By Tesfa-Alem Tekle
------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethiopia Ministry of Water Resources said the ministerial meeting
will hear performance report of last fiscal year as well as approve
plan and budget for the year 2010/2011.
Some 60 water ministers, development partners, counselors, and
invited guests are expected to take part at the meeting which will be
preceded by a five-day meeting of the technical committees.
The 1999 Nile-Council of ministers (COM) meeting, held in Addis
Ababa, was a major milestone in the history of Nile Basin
cooperation.
It was the first time that all Nile Basin Countries (with the exception
of Eritrea) participated in the ministerial meeting. Under the
chairmanship of Ethiopia, the meeting endorsed the new transitional
institutional arrangement, which is known as the Nile Basin Initiative.
Ethiopia currently chairs the Nile Council of Ministers.
COOPRATION THROUGH NILE BASIN INITIATIVE
During the past 30 years, a common position was sought among the
riparian states concerning cooperation and development through the
equitable utilization of the Nile River water. Until the recent creation
of a cooperative mechanism, however, those efforts were
characterized by setbacks.
In 1998, the Council of Ministers of Water Affairs for the Nile
Basin Countries (Nile-COM) established a new, transitional
institutional mechanism that involves all riparian countries.
This mechanism has brought about much closer cooperation for the
further development of common programs.
Ethiopia played a significant role in the development of the
mechanism, known as the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), a partnership
among the Nile riparian states that “seeks to develop the river in a
cooperative manner, share substantial socio-economic benefits, and
promote regional peace and security”.
The NBI began with a dialogue among the riparian states that
resulted in a shared vision to “achieve sustainable socioeconomic
development through the equitable utilization of, and benefit from,
the common Nile Basin water resources."
It was formally launched in February 1999 by the water ministers of
nine countries that share the river: Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda,
Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC), as well as Eritrea. Eritrea, which shares only a very
small portion of the Nile Basin and which led a war with Ethiopia in
1998-2000, is not participating actively in the Initiative.
NEW MOVE FOR NILE WATER EQUITY
Upstream countries strongly argue that, so far, Egypt and Sudan
have kept an unfair water sharing advantage over other Nile basin
countries including Ethiopia, which contributes over 80% of the total
waters to the Nile basin. Last month, four upstream states signed a
cooperative framework agreement to seek more water from the
River Nile - a move strongly opposed by Egypt and Sudan.
Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania signed the agreement.
Kenya, Burundi and the DRC are also expected to sign.
Representatives of upstream countries said they were "tired of first
getting permission from Egypt before using river Nile water for any
development project like irrigation", as required by a treaty signed
during the colonial era between Egypt and Britain in 1929.The new
agreement, once effective, is designed to replace the Nile Basin
Initiative.
It should be noted that an agreement signed in 1929 between Egypt
and Great Britain, which represented its African colonies along the
5,584 kilometre (3,470 mile) river, gave Egypt veto power over
upstream projects.
Another agreement signed in 1959 between Egypt and Sudan
allowed Egypt alone to use 55.5 billion cubic meters (87% of the
Nile’s flow) and Sudan 18.5 cubic metres of water each year.
Ethiopia, the biggest water contributor to the Nile basin, and the
rest of the riparian countries has been left out.
According to Report from the Ministry of Water Resources,
Ethiopia, with an area of 1.08 million square kilometers, has twelve
river basins with a mean annual flow of roughly 120.22 billion cubic
meters of water.
Although the country is known as the water tower of Africa, the
availability of water and the water resources potential in the eastern
and western parts of the country is markedly different.
The underdevelopment of Ethiopia’s water resources is
demonstrated by the under utilization of the country’s irrigable land
(which is estimated to be about 3.35 million hectares of which only
about 4.8 percent has been developed) and its hydropower
potential (which is estimated at 60 billion kwhr/year of which only
410 mw is developed to date).
The demand for hydropower is increasing at about 12 percent per
annum. In order to accelerate the development of the country’s
water resources, a number of coordinated and integrated activities
need to be carried out at both the federal and regional levels.
Courtesy
Ethiopia next week
20 June, 2010 | By Tesfa-Alem Tekle
------------------------------------------------------------------
- Water Ministers from nine
member states of the Nile
Basin are scheduled to
meet in the Ethiopian
capital, Addis Ababa, next
week to hold the 18th
regular meeting of Council
of Ministers of Water
Affairs.
Ethiopia Ministry of Water Resources said the ministerial meeting
will hear performance report of last fiscal year as well as approve
plan and budget for the year 2010/2011.
Some 60 water ministers, development partners, counselors, and
invited guests are expected to take part at the meeting which will be
preceded by a five-day meeting of the technical committees.
The 1999 Nile-Council of ministers (COM) meeting, held in Addis
Ababa, was a major milestone in the history of Nile Basin
cooperation.
It was the first time that all Nile Basin Countries (with the exception
of Eritrea) participated in the ministerial meeting. Under the
chairmanship of Ethiopia, the meeting endorsed the new transitional
institutional arrangement, which is known as the Nile Basin Initiative.
Ethiopia currently chairs the Nile Council of Ministers.
COOPRATION THROUGH NILE BASIN INITIATIVE
During the past 30 years, a common position was sought among the
riparian states concerning cooperation and development through the
equitable utilization of the Nile River water. Until the recent creation
of a cooperative mechanism, however, those efforts were
characterized by setbacks.
In 1998, the Council of Ministers of Water Affairs for the Nile
Basin Countries (Nile-COM) established a new, transitional
institutional mechanism that involves all riparian countries.
This mechanism has brought about much closer cooperation for the
further development of common programs.
Ethiopia played a significant role in the development of the
mechanism, known as the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), a partnership
among the Nile riparian states that “seeks to develop the river in a
cooperative manner, share substantial socio-economic benefits, and
promote regional peace and security”.
The NBI began with a dialogue among the riparian states that
resulted in a shared vision to “achieve sustainable socioeconomic
development through the equitable utilization of, and benefit from,
the common Nile Basin water resources."
It was formally launched in February 1999 by the water ministers of
nine countries that share the river: Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda,
Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC), as well as Eritrea. Eritrea, which shares only a very
small portion of the Nile Basin and which led a war with Ethiopia in
1998-2000, is not participating actively in the Initiative.
NEW MOVE FOR NILE WATER EQUITY
Upstream countries strongly argue that, so far, Egypt and Sudan
have kept an unfair water sharing advantage over other Nile basin
countries including Ethiopia, which contributes over 80% of the total
waters to the Nile basin. Last month, four upstream states signed a
cooperative framework agreement to seek more water from the
River Nile - a move strongly opposed by Egypt and Sudan.
Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania signed the agreement.
Kenya, Burundi and the DRC are also expected to sign.
Representatives of upstream countries said they were "tired of first
getting permission from Egypt before using river Nile water for any
development project like irrigation", as required by a treaty signed
during the colonial era between Egypt and Britain in 1929.The new
agreement, once effective, is designed to replace the Nile Basin
Initiative.
It should be noted that an agreement signed in 1929 between Egypt
and Great Britain, which represented its African colonies along the
5,584 kilometre (3,470 mile) river, gave Egypt veto power over
upstream projects.
Another agreement signed in 1959 between Egypt and Sudan
allowed Egypt alone to use 55.5 billion cubic meters (87% of the
Nile’s flow) and Sudan 18.5 cubic metres of water each year.
Ethiopia, the biggest water contributor to the Nile basin, and the
rest of the riparian countries has been left out.
According to Report from the Ministry of Water Resources,
Ethiopia, with an area of 1.08 million square kilometers, has twelve
river basins with a mean annual flow of roughly 120.22 billion cubic
meters of water.
Although the country is known as the water tower of Africa, the
availability of water and the water resources potential in the eastern
and western parts of the country is markedly different.
The underdevelopment of Ethiopia’s water resources is
demonstrated by the under utilization of the country’s irrigable land
(which is estimated to be about 3.35 million hectares of which only
about 4.8 percent has been developed) and its hydropower
potential (which is estimated at 60 billion kwhr/year of which only
410 mw is developed to date).
The demand for hydropower is increasing at about 12 percent per
annum. In order to accelerate the development of the country’s
water resources, a number of coordinated and integrated activities
need to be carried out at both the federal and regional levels.
Courtesy
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