FM presents Ethiopian Dam developments to UN secretary general, contends Egypt's stance on filling, operation

CAIRO – 13 April 2021: Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shokry made a phone call Tuesday to present the developments of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) issue to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and contend the fundamentals of the Egyptian stance advocating for reaching a legal binding agreement on filling and operation.

The minister also reiterated the risk posed by continuous Ethiopian unilateral acts, particularly carrying out the second filling without agreement, and the impact of that on the security and stability of the region.

Shokry asserted the importance of the role of the United Nations and its agencies in contributing to the resumption of negotiations and reaching the aspired agreement as well as supporting the African Union (AU) on that front.

The Egyptian minister of foreign affairs had sent letters to the UN secretary general, Security Council president, and UN General Assembly president, and requested accrediting them as an official document that explains all aspects of the GERD issue, the stages of negotiations, and the latest developments.

In mid-July 2020, Ethiopian authorities unilaterally carried out the first phase of the filling process with 4.9 billion cubic meters; and it is expected – as reported by the BBC- that the second phase of the filling would reach 13 billion cubic meters.

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].

In 2015, the three countries signed the Declaration of Principles, per which the downstream countries should not be negatively affected by the construction of the dam, whose capacity is 74 billion cubic meters and is planned to generate 6,000 megawatts per annum through 16 turbines.