Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said on Sunday that the Egyptians are following up closely the latest developments in the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
Addressing the fourth session of the Cairo Water Week, president Sisi said the Egyptians seek a balanced and legally binding agreement in line with the Security Council’s presidential statement issued in September 2021.
The president said such an agreement would achieve Ethiopia’s development goals which are backed by Egypt, however, he added any agreement should not inflict any water, environment, social or economic damage on Egypt and Sudan.
The president added that the water crisis became a serious international challenge due to the rising population without any increase in fresh water quotas, calling for protecting the safety and sustainability of water resources.
He warned the water crisis would affect the security and safety of peoples and countries and would also affect the whole region.
President Sisi said that Egypt believes in the importance of pushing forward development efforts as long as they promote international peace and security, pointing out that the country adopted “Egypt 2030 vision” in an ambitious national program addressing all aspects of life to achieve the goals of sustainable development.
The president added that Egypt devised a strategic plan for managing water resources till 2037 at costs of 50 billion dollars, adding that the costs of the project doubled due to the high implementation rates.
He said that the plan is based on four axes including improving the quality of water through establishing modern water treatment plants, rationalizing the use of water and lining water canals to preserve water and make use of it in development projects.
The president said the share of the per capita water quota does not exceed 560 cubic meters a year although the United Nations put water scarcity at 1,000 cubic meters a year.
President Sisi said that Egypt has the lowest per capita water share due to the drought and and lack of rain water.
The president stressed the importance of international cooperation and understanding to enable peoples to face challenges resulting from the scarcity of water.
He said that Egypt spares no effort to push forward the UN water agenda in multi-party gatherings to secure water access to peoples and save their lives. (MENA)
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