Water resources ministers of Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan are set to meet together on Wednesday and Thursday in Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa to address the disputed points between the three countries on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
Representatives of the World Bank will be present in the meeting, which will be held in light of the outcome of the past meeting held in Washington D.C. on 6 November. The meeting was hosted by the US Secretary of the Treasury.
Ministers are expected to discuss the filling and operation of the GERD to reach an agreement that does not negatively affect any of the three parties.
On 6 November, a new course of negotiations on the disputed Ethiopian dam was held under the auspices of the US as an outcome of a meeting hosted by the US gathering foreign ministers of the three countries, in the presence of World Bank representatives. The negotiations led to an agreement to announce a two-months negotiation time about the filling period.
The first meeting was held on 15 and 16 November in Addis Ababa in order to approach the points of views of the three countries to reach an agreement over the proposed rules for filling and operating GERD’s reservoir. The second one was hosted in Cairo on 2 and 3 December, while the third was held in Khartoum on 20 and 21 December without reaching a final agreement on the disputed issues.
The three countries previously agreed that the filling of the GERD reservoir would be according to the hydrology of the Blue Nile.
Parties are expected to meet for the last time at Washington D.C. on 15 January to come up with a final agreement that will ensure the rights of the three countries without harming each other.
