Arab Parliament denounces Ethiopia’s unilateral GERD operation as ‘serious violation of Egypt, Sudan water rights’

CAIRO – 21 February 2022: The Speaker of the Arab Parliament, Adel Bin Abdul Rahman Al-Asoumi denounced Ethiopia’s announcement to unilaterally start operating the Renaissance Dam as “a serious violation of water rights of Egypt and Sudan.”

He further expressed the Arab Parliament’s total rejection of Ethiopia’s step, which represents a clear violation of international and bilateral agreements regulating the use of the Nile River water as an international river, including Ethiopia’s commitments signed by the Ethiopian Prime Minister in the 2015 Declaration of Principles.

The Speaker of the Arab Parliament stressed that these rejected unilateral actions “will not change the legal and historical nature of the fixed and internationally recognized water quotas for Egypt and Sudan,” calling on Ethiopia to refrain from taking any unilateral measures that harm the water interests of downstream countries.

Al- Asoumi reiterated the Arab Parliament’s firm position regarding the necessity of quickly reaching a binding legal agreement to fill and operate the Renaissance Dam, without harming the water interests of Egypt and Sudan.

Al-Asoumi affirmed that the Arab Parliament stands by both Egypt and Sudan, as they take measures to preserve their water rights, as they are an integral part of Arab national security.

Latest developments

The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a brief comment on the Ethiopian announcement issued Sunday on operating the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) unilaterally.

Egypt underlined that the move follows the first and second fillings of the dam, also done unilaterally, which means that Ethiopia continues to violate the 2015 Declaration of Principles signed by former Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.

Ethiopia had stated that power generation from the dam begins Sunday. That is considered a pilot phase as the filling has not reached full capacity and not all turbines have been installed.   

The dispute among Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia dates back to May 2011 when Ethiopia started building the dam; Egypt voiced concern over its water share [55.5 billion cubic meters].

Three years later, a series of tripartite talks between the two countries along with Sudan began to reach an agreement, while Ethiopia continued the dam construction.

The first and second fillings were carried out in 2020 and 2021, respectively, making the total amount of water held back in the reservoir eight billion cubic meters.

Additional reporting by Noha el-Tawil