AAU Runs a Seminar on Water-Case Dispute Handling Mechanisms
Office of External Relations, Partnerships and Communications of Addis Ababa University (AAU) organized a seminar persistent to examine water-case dispute settling solutions based on two international experiences at Ras Mekonnen Hall on the 24th of June 2021.
The Seminar focused on exploring trans-boundary water-born conflict management methods through revitalizing experiences from Indus Basin Treaty-1960 (between India and Pakistan) and Declaration of Principles-2015 (among Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan).
H.E. Mr. Shozab Abbas, Ambassador for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Ethiopia, delivered a presentation entitled, “Comparative Analysis of Indus Basin Treaty-1960 and Declaration of Principles 2015-Emerging Development of River Nile Water Regional Cooperation”.
According to the Ambassador, the water dispute over the GERD among Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan has similar trends with the case of India and Pakistan over the Indus River Basin for which they established binding agreement for fair use of the water.
The GERD major hydrological issue, as stated by the Ambassador, focuses on fair distribution of water, effects on water shortage in Egypt, water storage and release operation, downstream water availability during draught, flood control mechanisms, impact on agriculture and Nile Ecosystem.
The Ambassador suggested that the GERD dispute can easily be resolved through applying the Declaration of Principles signed among the three Eastern Nile countries in Khartoum on the 23rd of March 2015.
Ambassador Shozab Abbas appreciated Ethiopia’s firm stand on disapproving of colonial agreement, allowing only AU-led intervention, agreement to fill the dam in rainy seasons, taking the Declaration of Principles as binding agreement, willingness for joint operation and agreement to maintain minimum flow level.
The Pakistani Ambassador finally recommended that the three nations have to work cooperatively on the safety of the Dam by protecting soil sedimentation as well as deforestation, and should generally be governed by the Declaration of Principles.
The Indus Waters Treaty is a water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan, brokered by the World Bank, signed on September 19, 1960, to use the water available in the Indus River and its tributaries. It fixed and delimited the rights and obligations of both countries concerning the use of the waters of the Indus river system.
Valuing the increasing need of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan for their over-border water sources, and realising the importance of the Nile River as a source of life and vital development of their peoples, the three countries have committed themselves to the ten pointed declaration of binding principles concerning the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
Principle of (cooperation; development, regional integration and sustainability; not causing significant damage; fair and appropriate use; storage reservoir and dam operation policies; building trust; exchange of information and data; dam security; sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the State; and peaceful settlement of disputes) are the basic points declared as binding principles among the three countries.
Viewers in the Seminar including Mitike Molla (PhD), Vice President of Research and Technology Transfer of AAU, and Yaekob Arsano (PhD), Advisor on water, irrigation and energy on trans-boundary water negotiations, said that the downstream countries like Egypt have always been working to restrain Ethiopia back from development.
According to the viewers’ comments, Egypt has tried to stop Ethiopia from going forward to development using different obsmacks such as proxy wars using Ethiopian neighbouring countries, religious interferences, exclusive colonial agreements and others.
Source: Addis Ababa University