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UN / GRAND ETHIOPIAN RENAISSANCE DAM
STORY : UN / GRAND ETHIOPIAN RENAISSANCE DAM
TRT: 02:49
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 29 JUNE 2020, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Tilt up, exterior UN Headquarters
29 JUNE 2020, NEW YORK CITY
2. Multiple screens
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs
“I commend the parties for their determination to negotiate an agreement and applaud the African Union’s efforts to facilitate a process to this end. The remaining differences are technical and legal in nature. They include the binding nature of an agreement, the dispute resolution mechanism and the management of water flow during droughts.”
4. Multiple screens
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sameh Shoukry, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Egypt:
“While we recognize the importance of this project to the developmental objectives of the Ethiopian people, a goal that we certainly share and support, it is essential to realize that this mega-dam, which is Africa’s largest hydropower facility, potentially threatens the welfare, the well-being, and the existence of millions of Egyptians and Sudanese citizens. Therefore, the unilateral filling and operation of this dam, without an agreement that includes the necessary precautions to protect the downstream communities and to prevent the infliction of significant harm on their riparian rights would heighten tensions and could provoke crises and conflicts that further destabilize already troubled region.”
6. Multiple screens
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Omer Mohamed Ahmed Siddig, Permanent Representative of Sudan to the United Nations:
“Ethiopia must ensure that any potential negative impact of the project is properly addressed and adequately mitigated in close consultation and cooperation with the downstream countries.”
8. Multiple screens
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Taye Atske Selassie Amde, Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the United Nations:
“Ethiopia doesn’t believe the issue being discussed today has a legitimate place in the Security Council. It is bound to set a bad precedent and open a Pandora Box. This Council should not be a forum for exerting diplomatic pressure. As we have informed the Council, the tripartite negotiation between Ethiopia, Egypt and the Sudan has not yet been concluded. The three countries have in fact reached consensus on most of the prominent technical issues in the last rounds of the negotiations. That is why Ethiopia has few doubts that progress is at hand and a mutually beneficial agreement is within reached.”
10. Multiple screens
Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo, today (29 Jun) commended Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt for their continuing negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), and said "the remaining differences are technical and legal in nature."
Addressing the Security Council, DiCarlo expressed hope that the three countries will reach a mutually beneficial agreement on the GERD and noted that remaining differences include “the binding nature of an agreement, the dispute resolution mechanism and the management of water flow during droughts.”
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told the Council that “this mega-dam, which is Africa’s largest hydropower facility, potentially threatens the welfare, the well-being, and the existence of millions of Egyptians and Sudanese citizens.”
Shoukry said, “the unilateral filling and operation of this dam, without an agreement that includes the necessary precautions to protect the downstream communities and to prevent the infliction of significant harm on their riparian rights would heighten tensions and could provoke crises and conflicts that further destabilize already troubled region.”
Sudanese Ambassador Omer Mohamed Ahmed Siddig, told the Council that “Ethiopia must ensure that any potential negative impact of the project is properly addressed and adecuately mitigated in close consultation and cooperation with the downstream countries.”
For his part, Ethiopian Ambassador Taye Atske Selassie Made said, “Ethiopia doesn’t believe the issue being discussed today has a legitimate place in the Security Council. It is bound to set a bad precedent and open a Pandora Box. This Council should not be a forum for exerting diplomatic pressure.”
The Ambassador noted that “the tripartite negotiation between Ethiopia, Egypt and the Sudan has not yet been concluded. The three countries have in fact reached consensus on most of the prominent technical issues in the last rounds of the negotiations. That is why Ethiopia has few doubts that progress is at hand and a mutually beneficial agreement is within reached.”
Construction of the dam begun in December 2010, and there have since been several rounds of talks among the parties.
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