Sisi warns of ‘grave risk’ from Ethiopia over Nile dispute

Egypt makes its case at UN, as Ethiopia goes on protection over Tigray

In a sharply worded speech to the UN General Assembly this week, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi known as out Ethiopia for its “clear intransigence and unjustified rejection” of worldwide diplomacy on the dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), and warned that this represents a “grave risk to the safety and stability of your complete area.”

Egypt depends on the Nile for over 90% of its water provide and has sought an internationally mediated settlement with Ethiopia to guarantee that Egypt’s water provide isn’t diminished by the GERD. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia has thus far resisted worldwide mediation on the GERD, claiming the dam is a sovereign matter, and that Egypt’s considerations are overblown. Sudan backs Egypt’s place on the Nile. 

The world acknowledges the dangers of collision. On Sept. 15, the UN Safety Council issued an announcement calling on the three events to renew negotiations mediated by the African Union (AU). 

As we wrote here back in July, when Egypt made its second presentation to the Council in two years concerning the GERD, a Safety Council decision, which carries extra weight than a “assertion,” is a tricky promote. The Safety Council’s mandate is restricted to points affecting “worldwide safety.” Clearly, this dispute is getting nearer to assembly that commonplace, besides, members stay uneasy concerning the precedent of utilizing the discussion board to handle “water points,” because it might open up the Council for quite a few different circumstances.

The Council assertion is subsequently a blended outcome for Egypt, which would favor a extra engaged function for the UN, EU and out of doors powers within the talks to again the AU, as Ayah Aman reports. Ethiopia considers the GERD past UN Safety Council jurisdiction, preferring that talks stay beneath AU auspices solely, as Mohammed Saied explains here.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated after meeting with Egyptian Overseas Minister Sameh Shoukry on Sept. 22 that each nations share a “mutual want for results-oriented negotiations” on the GERD beneath the auspices of the AU, which is presently chaired by the Democratic Republic of Congo. Muhammed Magdy reports here on the Congo’s efforts to restart the stalled talks.

Egyptian diplomacy on the GERD can also be benefiting from a downdraft in US-Ethiopia ties over the civil warfare in Tigray, which the State Department has characterized as “one of many worst humanitarian crises on the earth,” with over 900,00 residing in famine.  On Sept. 17 the Biden administration enacted a brand new sanctions regime in response to the disaster, a warning to the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea, which have been implicated in atrocities and human rights violations within the battle. 

Egypt is utilizing old-school radio diplomacy as a part of its data diplomacy technique to convey its place on the Nile to African nations, as George Mikhail reports.

In the meantime, Sudan’s authorities thwarted an tried coup by officers linked with the earlier regime of ousted dictator Omar al-Bashir, as we report here.

Egypt hyperlinks Nile diplomacy to local weather

Egypt isn’t simply framing the Nile dispute in safety phrases. It’s additionally fusing its considerations concerning the Nile to a broader effort to emphasise transboundary water conflicts within the UN Local weather Change Convention by stressing water shortage, drought, land desertification and meals safety, as Mohamed Saied reports.

In anticipation of the potential affect of a diminished water provide, Egypt is endeavor a number of tasks to maximise water effectivity, as Rasha Mahmoud reports, and overhauling a number of of its key hydropower stations, Mohamed Sabry reports.

For US, human rights nonetheless matter

Sisi is also attempting to shore up key partnerships. He introduced on Sept. 11 a so-called National Strategy for Human Rights to blended evaluations, with advocates claiming the initiative is a serious step ahead, and critics labeling it an effort to divert worldwide scrutiny, as Mohamed Ashraf Abu Emaira reports.

The US took observe, nonetheless. The State Division readout after Blinken’s assembly with Shoukry famous that “a strengthened partnership can be facilitated by steps from the Authorities of Egypt to enhance its safety of human rights, together with by implementing” the brand new technique. Blinken and Shoukry agreed to carry a “bilateral strategic dialogue to debate regional points, human rights, safety cooperation, and financial relations.”

Extra from Egypt:  Intercourse Ed, Sharks and Atheists

On Egypt, take a look at these different articles from our Egyptian correspondents:

• Hagar Hosny has the latest on one other water-related disaster — investigations right into a sequence of shark assaults off Egypt’s northern coast. Egyptian officers are trying into stories of latest assaults, which till now have been uncommon.
• Ibrahim Ayyad writes about the on-line platform “Mom Being,” which has stoked controversy not just for discussing sexual well being, which stays hushed or controversial in lots of Arab nations, however by providing a course “coping with sexual consciousness targeted on pleasure.”
• Shahira Amin reports here on how Sisi’s feedback about respecting “nonbelievers” has sparked  debate, as there’s “little tolerance for atheists within the conservative, predominantly Muslim society…whereas Egypt has no legal guidelines criminalizing atheism, nonbelievers that come out as such are sometimes sentenced  to a few years in jail on the cost of “contempt of faith.”