Minister of Irrigation from Juba: Egypt's approach will remain based on supporting our brothers in the Nile Basin
The Minister of Irrigation participated in a meeting of the Nile Basin water ministers in Juba, stressing Egypt's commitment to comprehensive cooperation and consultative work to restore inclusivity in the Nile Basin.
Translated by Qiyas from الأنباء — Original source
Dr. Hany Suleiman, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, participated in the extraordinary meeting of the Nile Basin Initiative Council of Ministers (Nile-COM), held yesterday in Juba, the capital of the Republic of South Sudan.
During the meeting, Dr. Suleiman delivered a speech, stating: “Our meeting coincides with World Water Day, an occasion of great significance to all our peoples, as it symbolizes the establishment of the Nile Basin Initiative as a comprehensive, consensus-based platform that brings together all Nile Basin countries.”
Suleiman continued: “The Initiative was established more than 25 years ago to work together to enhance cooperation, mutual benefit, and regional stability. Egypt firmly believes that our future lies in pursuing unity, inclusivity, and dialogue, rather than division, fragmentation, or unilateral actions.”
Elaborating further, Suleiman said: “In this spirit, Egypt participated in several activities of the Nile Basin Initiative last year to revitalize our joint cooperation. Egypt is currently reviewing a set of viable options to support the Initiative, reaffirming its steadfast commitment to ensuring the Initiative’s sustainability and its ability to perform its functions effectively in the Nile Basin.”
The Minister of Irrigation added: “In the same vein, we believe that the constructive path forward lies in strengthening the ongoing consultative process (which addresses the concerns of countries that have not yet acceded to the Framework Agreement), with the aim of restoring basin-wide inclusivity. This is of particular importance given the presence of countries that have not yet joined the Framework Agreement and have legitimate interests and concerns that must be taken into account, so as to preserve the unity of the basin and move together toward a bright future.”
Suleiman stated: “In this regard, we welcome the progress report issued by the Committee tasked with examining the concerns of non-signatory countries, which noted that the Framework Agreement is not a rigid document, but a flexible and effective instrument, with clear provisions allowing for amendment and gradual development under Articles 35, 36, and 37. The report also emphasized the need to continue the consultative process under the leadership of the Special Committee to address the concerns of non-accession countries on outstanding issues, thereby achieving common consensus among all countries and facilitating the accession of the remaining countries to the Agreement.”
The Minister of Irrigation stressed: “Egypt will continue its active and constructive participation in the consultative process, and we look forward to the next steps of this process, which ultimately aim to reach an updated Framework Agreement that takes into account the rights, interests, and development aspirations of all Nile Basin countries.”
Suleiman clarified: “Egypt also calls on all basin countries and development partners to support the consultative process and to refrain from supporting any unilateral, non-inclusive measures or institutional transitions that could undermine our collective efforts to restore cooperation and unity among our countries. We also emphasize that any step aiming to transition from the Nile Basin Initiative to a Nile Basin Commission must be based solely on full consensus among all ten basin countries.”
