Egypt launches major cleanup campaign along the Nile on September 17

CAIRO- 5 August 2022: Along the Nile River in Egypt, the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources would carry out a major clean-up campaign of waste on September 17, coinciding with the celebration of the “World Cleanliness Day”, as part of the ongoing preparations for holding the Fifth Cairo Water Week and preparing for water activities during the upcoming COP27 climate conference.

In a statement issued by the Ministry on Friday, the campaign aims to protect and clean the Nile River from pollution and plastic waste, preserve aquatic biodiversity, and raise environmental awareness of the risks of water pollution.

“This major campaign to clean the Nile River will be recorded in the "Guinness Book of Records" as the longest campaign ever in the world, and a distinct opportunity as it is the longest cleaning campaign in terms of kilometers, with the participation of the largest number of participants, and the removal of the largest expected amount of waste’” said Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel-Atti in the statement.

The campaign will be carried out in Cairo , Giza, Qalyubia , Dakahlia, Damietta, Gharbia, Menoufia, Kafr El Sheikh, Beheira, Beni Suef, Minya, Assiut, Sohag, Qena, Luxor, and Aswan, the statement added.

Recently, Youth Love Egypt' Foundation and Orange joined forces, under the auspices of the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources, to implement a campaign for cleaning the Nile River ahead of COP 27, on June 21. 

The cleaning took place at the banks of Zamalek neighborhood, and the distance until Embaba Bridge. The outcome was collecting more than a ton of plastic waste in burlap sacks.

The event is one of a series of activities scheduled for the time leading up to COP 27 to be hosted by Egypt in Sharm El Sheikh on November 6-18, and that are aimed at raising environmental awareness. In November, The Foundation planted  2,000 trees, under the auspices of the Ministry of Irrigation and Giza Governorate and in cooperation with Thyssenkkrupp to adapt to climate changes.