Sudan optimistic as legal-technical GERD meetings continue

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Kajal Agrawal

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Sudan optimistic as legal-technical GERD meetings continue ^Featured

Super User 23 August 2020

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The legal-technical committee on Ethiopia’s mega dam started preparations of an initial draft of agreed and disputed points between involved parties, on Friday, according to Egypt’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation.

The committee will, on 28 August, provide a report on the outcomes of its work to South Africa, the current chair of the African Union (AU). In the document, the committee is expected to draw together the views of all three countries involved in ongoing negotiations on the Ethiopian dam, namely Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. The report is also set to detail all disputed points regarding the dam project.

After the committee finishes its meetings, the Ministers of Water Resources and Irrigation from the three countries related to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) will met virtually. The ministers agreed to resume talks on the dam’s disputed points on 28 August.

The current round of meetings comes in accordance with the outcomes of the 16 August ministerial meeting, held between the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, and Water Resources, from the three countries. The outcomes of the 21 July mini-summit, that gathered leaders of the three sides alongside South Africa, have also provided input for the current talks.

Following the Friday meeting, Sudan’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Yassir Abbas said that both Egypt and Ethiopia have started to ease their stances, compared to their respective positions in the first round of negotiations.

Countering the Sudanese statement, former Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohammed Nasr Allam noted that he does not actually feel Ethiopia’s seriousness in reaching a win-win end to the current course of negotiations.

Abbas added that representatives of each country will meet separately with international observers, on Wednesday, to discuss the course of talks.

The current round of negotiations started on 27 July, in the presence of observers from the AU Assembly Bureau, alongside representatives from AU member states, the US, and the EU.