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Awulachew

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20

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2021-07-08

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2021-07-08

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un-security-council

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1. “Finally, allow me to respectfully request the Council to return this matter to the able und legitimate leadership of the African Union and to encourage Egypt and the Sudan to seriously and faithfully negotiate to reach a negotiated settlement on the first filling and annual operations of the GERD. We also request the Council to make this meeting the last of its deliberations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. There is no subject matter as far from the mandate of the Council as this one. The meeting rose at 5.50 p.m.”

   2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

2. “The Nile belongs to all the people of the Nile basin countries — all the half billion of us in the 11 riparian countries. There is water enough for all of us. In this regard, we urge our Egyptian and Sudanese brothers and sisters to understand that a resolution to the Nile issue will not come from the Security Council; it can only come from good-faith negotiations with due care for each other’s well-being and development. Ethiopia looks forward to continuing the AU-led trilateral negotiations on the GERD. We have the solutions at hand, and we can herald good news to the world by concluding a mutually acceptable outcome.”

   2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

3. “In the Framework Agreement, which many Council members have financially and technically supported, the Nile basin countries agreed to share Nile water in an equitable and reasonable manner. We replaced the colonial and monopolistic claims with accepted principles of international law. This instrument is now awaiting two more ratifications before it can enter into force. The insatiable demands of Egypt and, more recently, the Sudan are not about the moot issue of the GERD but about future development projects in Ethiopia and the other riparian countries. Without an effective CFA and a regional mechanism, similar issues will inevitably be brought to the Security Council. Today, it is Ethiopia’s dam; tomorrow, it could come from any one of the Nile basin countries.”

   2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

4. “In this regard, it would be regrettable for the Council to circumvent this hope by unhelpful precedent whereby Member States impose through the Council what they should acquire through good-faith negotiations. The Council should resist concerted efforts to turn it into an appellate body on transboundary-river negotiations. Colonialism and colonial treaties thwarted Africa’s ability in utilize its natural resources for the benefit of its peoples. The Nile basin countries have recognized this problem and worked towards addressing it. In 1999, we established the Nile Basin Initiative, and in 2010, atter 13 years of negotiations, we adopted the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) on the Nile.”

   2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

5. “Therefore, the Security Council should not be dragged into the GERD negotiations, in the expedient pursuit of domestic political objectives, for example. If the Council consents to the path proffered by Egypt and the Sudan, it will certainly be entangled with resolving disputes on all transboundary rivers. Interestingly, other than one island sisterly country of ours, all members of the Security Council have transboundary watercourses. They have dealt with and continued to address differences bilaterally and through basin-wide efforts. The GERD talks and the process we have undergone since 2011 has taught us a major lesson. Hopefully, this process will nudge us to work towards a regional mechanism on the Nile basin.”

   2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

6. “Egypt and the Sudan do not need any convincing as to the fortunes they will acquire upon the completion of the dam. In the wise words of Sudanese officials, the GERD is an instrument of regional integration. The GERD is for the Sudan what the High Aswan Dam is for Egypt. In this context, I am now going out of my way to explain to the Council the absence of any threat caused by the GERD. However, we should not even have to litigate the benefits Egypt and the Sudan will acquire from the GERD to argue for our legitimate share from the Nile. All of us — the Nile riparian countries — are there to share both the bounty and the scarcity. None of us ought to stand thirsty watching the others drink. Through the GERD, Ethiopia is summoning this common sense to prevail in the Nile basin.”

   2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

7. “We have proactively provided the necessary data on the modalities for the filling of the dam. Let me be clear: the filling of the GERD is part of the construction process. This is clearly stipulated in the Agreement on Declaration of Principles on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam our three heads of State signed in March 2015. The filling of the dam is pure physics. Once the dam concrete reaches a certain height, the water either flows through the bottom outlets or flows over the concrete. As designed, the dam will store water until it reaches the 13.5 billion cubic meters indicated in the filling schedule agreed to by Egypt and the Sudan. It is only fair that a country that generates 77 billion cubic meters of water impounds a small fraction of the annual inflow for its hydroelectric dam.”

   2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

8. “Whether we like it or not, we will continue to drink from the same river and must learn to live together as neighbours. I reiterate Ethiopia’s long-standing commitment to the AU-led process, which is underpinned by a belief that Africans have the wisdom, the technical expertise and, most importantly, the agency to address their challenges. We believe that the phased approach proposed by President Félix Tshisekedi, the Chairperson of the African Union, could help us work towards resolving the quagmire created by the colonial heritage in the Nile basin that Egypt and the Sudan are determined to preserve. Allow me also to address the much-talked-about second-year filling of the GERD. The second-year filling of the GERD is happening in July and August of this year.”

   2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

9. “On 24 June 2021, the AU Bureau of Assembly convened a meeting to discuss various issues, including the GERD. The President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, His Excellency Mr. Félix Tshisekedi, briefed the Bureau and introduced his plans for the upcoming negotiations. Unfortunately, the Republic of the Sudan did not attend that high-level meeting. With the absence of the Sudan in the 24 June Bureau meeting, the two countries — Egypt and the Sudan — have blocked nine meetings between us since June 2020. We should have learned by now that Ethiopia does not respond well to undue political pressure and interference. Ethiopia will continue to exercise maximum restraint and showcase cooperation because we are forever linked by this majestic river.”

   2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

10. “It must also be clear that the underlying problem for the differences among the three countries — Ethiopia, Egypt and the Sudan — is the quest to preserve the colonial and monopolistic status quo over the Nile. The approach of trying to solve problems using the mindset that created them is what blocks our consensus on the GERD. The Security Council is faced with the question of determining whether or not Ethiopians have the right to utilize the Nile River. On behalf of all Ethiopians, I implore our friends in the Security Council and in the wider international community to answer this question: do Ethiopians have the right to drink from the Nile? As a point of information, allow me to share with the Council the most recent status of the African Union-led negotiations.”

    2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

11. “The African Union is seized of the matter and is ably facilitating our negotiations, which is why it is regrettable that our sisterly countries opted to bring the matter to the Security Council. I will not drag Council members into a discussion of issues despite my usual disposition to explain technical details on dams and hydrology. However, I want us to truly appreciate the subject matter we are compelled to discuss, and we are speaking of a hydroelectric dam. For the first time since its establishment, the Security Council is being asked to pronounce itself on a water development project. The Security Council is a political and security organ. It is unhelpful and misguided to present to this global security body an issue that requires a hydrotechnical solution.”

    2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

12. “Our main objective is to maximize our scarce water resources by rehabilitating nature and preventing further depletion through our Green Legacy Initiative — a prominent initiative of my Prime Minister, Mr. Abiy Ahmed. With an overall goal of planting 20 billion trees in five years’ time, we planted 10 billion trees in past two years. This initiative, which also consists of seedling-sharing outreach with our neighbours, is part of the Green Belt Initiative of the African Union. We call upon Egypt and the Sudan to join this afforestation programme, which improves resilience and increases water availability. Ethiopia believes that an agreement is within reach, given the necessary political will and the commitment to negotiate in good faith. We have already reached an understanding on a considerable number of the issues.”

    2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

13. “It is important to note that our two neighbours have large and small dams and canals they constructed with absolute disregard for the rights of other riparian countries and rejecting Ethiopia’s repeated pleas for consultation. After a series of initiatives to address the concerns of our neighbours in good faith, we are compelled to conclude that their objection is not as such directed at the GERD, but rather to stop any water use by Ethiopia. The fact of the matter is that we have no viable alternative. Unlike Egypt and the Sudan, Ethiopia has no considerable ground-water reserves. We also do not have seawater to desalinate. Nearly 70 per cent of my country’s water is in the Nile basin. Even if we wanted to, even if we tried, we cannot avoid utilizing the Nile River. In fact, constructing dams is only part of our focus.”

    2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

14. “The lives of Ethiopians who languish in the Sahara Desert attempting to cross into Europe; the migrants in the Middle East who sacrifice their youth to bring about a better day for their families; the young boys and girls in migrant prisons in Africa and beyond; the bare-footed migrants that one sees returning to their homeland in mass deportations from the Middle East — they all deserve a dignified life. The GERD is a people’s project and our humble attempt to realize that dream. Against all odds, we chose to act, and act in spite of the arduous obstacles we faced. Instead of becoming enmired in those challenges, we struggled to prevail. Little by little, we are overcoming. Unfortunately, we are here because Egypt and, most recently the Sudan, expressed its opposition to this hydroelectric dam.”

    2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

15. “Africa, the cradle of humankind, is currently the youngest continent in the world. Africa is set to reap its demographic dividend by investing in its youth. Similarly, 70 percent of Ethiopia’s population is under the age of 30. More than 100,000 Ethiopians graduate from higher education every year. Moreover, over 30 million Ethiopians are currently in school at various levels of education. Catering to the needs of that growing population is an imperative and existential matter for my county.”

    2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

16. “In this mighty river, which we share with our neighbours, our people saw hope to extricate themselves from darkness and march towards it by building the GERD. The dam bears the fingerprints of Ethiopia’s farmers, pastoralists, daily labourers, students, business-women and men and the diaspora throughout the world who eke out a living in extremely difficult circumstances. In equal, if not exceeding, terms, Ethiopians have best wishes and neighbourly concern for their compatriots in Egypt and the Sudan. We have every intention to live together in peace and cooperate for our mutual benefit. The GERD demonstrates that core principle of collective well-being and prosperity. That is why the GERD is one of the regional integration projects under the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa.”

    2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

17. “It is also unique because the construction of this $5 billion dam is financed by the blood, tears and sweat of ordinary Ethiopians. The GERD is the right dam built at the right place for the betterment of people in the broader region. Our unfortunate inability to utilize the Nile River so far is deeply embedded in the psychology of our people. Two famous Ethiopian proverbs underscore that point. Roughly, they translate as “the irony of the tribulations of a poor man who stood in the middle of a river and lamented about experiencing extreme thirst”. To change that generational lament, we have nowhere else to look but the Abbay or Nile basins, in which two thirds of Ethiopia’s water resources are found.”

    2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

18. “Similarly, Ethiopia commends and stands with the Democratic Republic of Congo, current Chairperson of the African Union, for its relentless effort under trying circumstances, including the repeated disruption of the negotiations. We are dealing with a hydroelectric dam project, which is not the first of its kind in Africa or in the world. We are building a reservoir to store water that will generate electricity by hitting turbines. For the Council’s information, the GERD reservoir is two and half times smaller than that of the Aswan Dam in Egypt. Perhaps what makes the GERD distinctive as compared to other projects is the extent of hope and aspiration it generated for 65 million Ethiopians who have no access to electricity.”

    2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

19. “Nevertheless, it is an honour for me to speak before this organ to voice the concerns and just causes of my country, Ethiopia. A year ago, on 29 June 2020, under your presidency, Sir, Council members encouraged Ethiopia, Egypt and the Sudan to continue negotiations to resolve the outstanding issues and expressed support for the African Union-led process to facilitate further talks (see S/2020/636). Ethiopia took part in the negotiation with renewed commitment and good faith to reach a mutually acceptable, negotiated outcome under the auspices of the African Union. I would like to pause to express special recognition and thanks to the Republic of South Africa for effectively facilitating the negotiation until the end of its African Union chairmanship in February 2021.”

    2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

20. “Please accept my best wishes, Sir, as you steer the work of the Security Council for the month of July. I wish to extend my respectful greetings to the members of the Security Council and my heartfelt greetings to my brother Minister Selim and my sister Minister Al Mahadi. I recognize and thank Ms. Inger Andersen and Special Envoy Onanga-Anyanga for their participation. I also thank the representative of the African Union (AU) Chairperson for addressing this meeting. At this meeting and deliberation of the Security Council, where a hydroelectric dam is under scrutiny in an unprecedented manner, I am not sure if I am not the first water minister to address the Security Council. Ethiopia believes this is an unfitting use of the time and resources of the Security Council to discuss the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).”

    2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source