Egypt Says Won't Accept Ethiopia's Unilateral Acts on GERD

'World Water Day' is observed annually across the globe on March 22.

It aims at raising global awareness about water issues, encouraging world's countries to take the necessary measures to face the growing challenges facing water sector, and maximizing cooperation between riparian countries on transboundary rivers.

On this occasion, Egypt's Irrigation and Water Resources Minister Mohamed Abdel Aty said that the water sector in Egypt faces many challenges, whether at the global or local level including, climate change, population increase, and the growing demand for water.

In a statement, the minister added that Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and its impact on the Nile River water is considered one of the major challenges facing Egypt nowadays, especially in light of the unilateral measures taken by the Ethiopian side with regard to the filling and operation of the dam.

Moreover, Abdel Aty stressed that Egypt would never accept the repercussions of these unilateral acts.

It is worth mentioning that, Sudan said on Sunday that the international quartet committee invited to mediate in Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) talks is not an alternative to the African Union (AU).

In a statement, the Sudanese Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources underlined the need to change the approach adopted in the negotiations, according to SUNA news agency.

Moreover, the ministry added that the quartet committee aims at strengthening the role of the AU in the negotiation process and is not an alternative to it.

On Thursday, Sudan announced that it has received positive responses from the international quartet, which was called to mediate in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) talks.

In press statements to Sudan News Agency (SUNA), Engineer Mustafa Hussein Al-Zobair, head of the GERD technical negotiating team, said that the United Nations (U.N.), the European Union (E.U.), and the United States (U.S.), in addition to the African Union (A.U.), which is already sponsoring the negotiations, welcomed Sudan’s request to mediate in GERD talks.

The international parties expressed their willingness to play a mediation role in negotiations and to provide their technical, legal, and political expertise to achieve a convergence of views among the three countries, Al-Zobair said.

The Sudanese official also added that the quadripartite mediation will reinforce and support the efforts of the AU headed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo to reach a binding and satisfactory legal deal among the three parties on the filling and operation of the Renaissance Dam.