Egypt and Sudan on Thursday urged the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to intervene and undertake preventive diplomacy and call for a legally binding agreement to resolve the controversial Nile dam dispute with Ethiopia, which is against the involvement of the Security Council in the matter, reported the VOA News.
On Thursday, the UNSC backed African Union mediation efforts and urged all the three parties to the dispute to resume talks.
“A balanced and equitable solution to the filling and operation of the GERD can be reached with political commitment from all parties,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told the council.
She said that the negotiation talks between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan should be held under the leadership of the African Union, and should recommence with urgency. She added that the African Union is the most appropriate venue to address the Nile dam dispute.
The dispute over the GERD dates back to April 2011, when Ethiopia began building the dam on the Blue Nile, set to be the largest hydroelectric power project in Africa. The dam is 80% complete and is expected to reach its full generation capacity in 2023.
Ethiopia claims the dam is crucial to its economic development and to generate power for its people. Egypt views the dam as a threat to its Nile water supplies, on which it is almost entirely dependent. Sudan, also downstream, has expressed concern about the dam’s safety and impact on its own dams and water stations.
Earlier this week, Addis Ababa notified Cairo and Khartoum that it had begun the second phase of filling at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
Egypt and Sudan have urged the UN Security Council to approve a Tunisian-drafted resolution that calls for the three countries to engage in the negotiations and reach a legally binding agreement within six months.
