Sudanese Prime Minister Hamdouk has announced he will call his Ethiopian counterpart Abiy Ahmed to discuss resuming tripartite negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
Hamdouk’s announcement came during a meeting on Tuesday with Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.
During the meeting, the ministers discussed “all aspects” of the project, a statement released by Egypt’s cabinet said.
The statement added that Cairo and Khartoum stressed “the need to reach a tripartite agreement that takes into account the interests of the three countries, and to continue negotiations based on what was agreed upon in Washington”.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to peacefully resolve any disagreements over GERD, and to achieve a mutually beneficial agreement.
“[The secretary general] encourages the three parties to persevere with efforts to peacefully resolve any remaining differences and to achieve a mutually beneficial agreement,” the statement added.
Guterres, who is closely following the GERD updates, underscores the importance of the 2015 Declaration of Principles on the GERD. The declaration emphasises cooperation “based on a common understanding, mutual benefit, good faith, and the principles of international law”.
He urged the three parties to work towards a friendly agreement in accordance with “the spirit of these principles”.
On 1 May, Egypt sent a letter on the GERD crisis to the head of the UN Security Council (UNSC) after three countries failed to reach an agreement on its filling and operation.
Egypt and Sudan then rejected an Ethiopian agreement released on 10 April proposing a “partial agreement” that would only cover the first stage of the filling.
The negotiations between the three countries stalled in late February after Ethiopia declined to sign a deal drafted by US mediators.
