Minister of Irrigation: The Nile Basin Initiative violated the rules of its establishment and the rules of international water law

Dr. Hani Sweilem, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, participated in the session “Strengthening governance structures and management mechanisms for transboundary water resources in Africa: the role and impact of joint river institutions.”

During the session, Sweilem reviewed the study that was prepared with knowledge The Nile Water Affairs Sector, which is related to the successful experiences of cross-border river basin organizations.

Sweilem pointed out that it is necessary to manage cross-border water resources in an integrated manner in order to achieve peace and cooperation between countries, noting the existence of a study prepared by an international expert. , which was based on evaluating the effectiveness of transboundary river basin organizations. The study included setting a number of criteria to determine the extent of the effectiveness and success of these organizations. These criteria were applied to a number of 119 transboundary river basin organizations, the most important of which was the necessity of adopting the principles of international law. For water, the need for these organizations to be funded through contributions from countries, and for the decision-making mechanism to be unanimous, which means the need for consensus among all countries and not to waste the rights of other countries, as well as the existence of a mechanism for exchanging information and data, and a mechanism for resolving disputes.

The Minister of Irrigation added that a number of (3) cases of river organizations were studied: the Zambiri River Organization, which includes (8) riparian countries, and the Senegal River Organization, which includes (4) riparian countries. Both organizations fulfill the required requirements according to the study, which makes them successful models for organizations. Transboundary rivers, but in the case of the Nile Basin Initiative, which was established in 1999, the initiative was in its first era a comprehensive initiative whose membership included all the Nile Basin countries, but some of the initiative countries violated the rules of its establishment by opening negotiations on the framework agreement, which did not enjoy the agreement of all. Member States, in addition to that it violates the applicable rules of international water law, which include prior notification and conducting prior studies to evaluate the environmental, economic and social impacts. The organization’s decision-making mechanism is also flawed because it does not rely on the principle of consensus, which means that the interests of some countries will not be taken into account.

Swilem added that as a result of the Nile source countries deliberately excluding the downstream countries, the Nile River Basin is currently suffering from division due to the presence of a number of river basin organizations, noting at the same time that Egypt supports cooperation between the basin countries, but it must be This is based on the principles of comprehensiveness and ensuring the representation of all basin countries, with the importance of emphasizing the reform of Al-Awar, which avoids the so-called Nile River Basin Commission, stressing that this commission does not represent the Nile River Basin in any way.

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