Official: UNSC will not interfere in Ethiopia dam issue

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (C), Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (R2) and Sudan’s President Omar Al Bashir (L2) take part in a tripartite summit regarding a dam on the Nile River, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 10 February 2019. [Presidency of Egypt / Handout – Anadolu Agency]

A UN official has said that he was disappointed because the UN Security Council is not ready to help ease tensions over Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam, the New Khaleej news site reported yesterday.

The UNESCO Chair on International Water Cooperation and Professor of Peace and Conflict at the Swiss university of Uppsala, Ashok Sawin, said: “It is not possible that the UN Security Council would accept Egypt’s request to mediate.”

He added: “It is not possible that all the permanent members would agree to mediate in this crisis.”

“Any unilateral action by Ethiopia will result in a high conflict situation with Egypt & can also deteriorate its relations with Sudan,” he warned.

https://twitter.com/ashoswai/status/1275172076685537288?s=20

Egypt, which is almost entirely reliant on the Nile for agriculture and drinking water, fears the filling process will significantly reduce the flow of Nile water, while Ethiopia has dismissed Cairo’s concerns and says the project is key to its own development efforts.

READ: Egypt, the Renaissance Dam and the UN Security Council

Never-ending fight between Egypt/Ethiopia and Sudan over the Renaissance Dam – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]

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