The Government of Ethiopia affirms its position to advance the trilateral technical dialogue concerning the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
The Water Affairs Ministers of Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan met in Khartoum on 04 and 05 October 2019. Prior to the Ministers’ meeting, the National Independent Scientific Research Group of the three countries met in Khartoum on 30 September – 03 October 2019.
The Government of Ethiopia is of the conviction that the technical consultation must continue, as it presents the only option for resolution of differences among the three countries with respect to filling and operation of the GERD. Although the unilateral proposal on technical aspects of filling and operation of the GERD by the Government of Egypt side-steps the working procedure of the NISRG and disrupted the ongoing process, the Water Affairs Ministers in their meeting in Cairo on 15 and 16 September 2019 instructed the NISRG to discuss and analyze the filling and operation plan of Ethiopia and the submissions of Egypt and Sudan on technical aspects of filling and operation.
Based on the direction given by the Water Affairs Ministers meeting in Cairo, the NISRG considered Ethiopia’s filling and operation plan of the GERD, and the proposals of Egypt and the Sudan. The deliberation of the Scientific Research Group was based on an outline adopted by consensus between the three country teams. The Group reached an agreement on some points while some other issues remain outstanding. These points of divergence could be resolved through further deliberation by the NISRG.
The filling plan of Ethiopia that is set to be completed in stages that will take four to seven years based on the hydrology is considerate of the interests of the downstream countries of the Nile. Furthermore, Ethiopia and Sudan followed a constructive and inclusive approach for the discussion of the NISRG. Whereas, the Egyptian Side persisted on its position of having all its proposals accepted without which it was not willing to have the NISRG conduct its analysis.
This approach by the Government of Egypt is not new. Rather, it is yet another instance of a disruptive tactic it applied to halt the hydrology, environmental and social impact assessment on the GERD. Ethiopia maintains its stand on the possibility of resolving the issues based on trilateral technical consultation and the invocation of principle X of the DOP is premature.
Despite the tireless efforts of the Ministers of Water Affairs, during their two days meeting to consider the progress of the work of the NISRG, they did not manage to put a direction on the way forward due to the predetermined plan of the delegation of Egypt to make the process fail.
The proposal by the Government of Egypt to invite third party in the discussions is an unwarranted denial of the progress in the trilateral technical dialogue and violates the Agreement on the Declaration of Principles signed by the three countries on 23 March 2015. It also goes against the consent and wishes of Ethiopia and the Sudan; it negatively affects the sustainable cooperation between the Parties; undermines the ample opportunity for technical dialogue between the three countries; and disrupts the positive spirit of cooperation.
Additionally, the proposal to subject the discussion on filling and operation of the GERD to a political forum is unjustified by the nature of the outstanding technical issues. It also contravenes the direction given by the leaders of the three countries given to the Water Affairs Ministers to resolve the technical issues related to filling and operation of the Dam, it will also not allow attainment of a successful resolution of the technical issues.
The Government of Ethiopia believes the existing mechanisms of cooperation will allow resolution of differences and reminds the need to refrain from negative media and other campaigns that will have no other effect than eroding the confidence among the three countries.
The Government of Ethiopia will reinforce its efforts to realize development of its water resource to meet the present and future needs of its people that deserve development and adequate standard of living.
Ethiopia upholds the principles of equitable and reasonable utilization and the causing of no significant harm on any other riparian country in the use of the waters of the Nile. Furthermore, the Government of Ethiopia will continue to follow an approach that will not result in direct or indirect recognition of any preexisting water allocation treaty, which has no applicability whatsoever on Ethiopia.

#MoFA

የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት በታላቁ የኢትዮጵያ ሕዳሴ ግድብ የውሃ አሞላል እና አለቃቀቅ ዙሪያ የተጀመረውን የሶስትዮሽ ቴክኒካዊ ምክክር ለማስቀጠል ቁርጠኛ ነው::

የግብጽ፣ ኢትዮጵያ እና ሱዳን የውሀ ጉዳይ ሚኒስትሮች መስከረም 5 እና 6 ቀን 2012 ዓ.ም በካይሮ ባካሄዱት ስብሰባ ባስቀመጡት የጊዜ ሰሌዳ መሰረት በካርቱም የሶስትዮሽ ስብሰባቸውን አካሂደዋል፡፡ ከሚኒስትሮቹ ስብሰባ አስቀድሞ የአገራቱ ገለልተኛ የሳይንሳዊ ጥናት ቡድን ከመስከረም 19 እስከ 22 ቀን 2012 ዓ.ም በካርቱም አምስተኛ ዙር ስብሰባውን አካሂዶ በታላቁ የኢትዮጵያ ሕዳሴ ግድብ ሙሌት እና የውሃ አለቃቅ ቴክኒካዊ ጉዳዮች ዙሪያ መክሯል፡፡

የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት በአገራቱ መካከል የሚደረገው ቴክኒካዊ ምክክር ብቸኛው የመፍትሄ አማራጭ በመሆኑ መቀጠል እንደሚኖርበት ያምናል፡፡
የሳይንሳዊ ቡድኑ አራት ስብሰባዎችን አድርጎ አበረታች ውጤት እያሳየ ባለበት ወቅት ግብጽ በተናጠል ያቀረበችው የውሃ ሙሌት እና አለቃቀቅን የሚመለከተው ሰነድ ከትብብር ማዕቀፉ ውጪ የሆነ እና ሂደቱን ያናጠበ ሆኗል፡፡ ሆኖም የውሃ ሚኒስትሮች የኢትዮጵያ የውሃ ሙሌት እና አለቃቀቅ እቅድ፣ የግብጽ መንግስት የሚያቀርበው ሰነድ እንዲሁም ሱዳን በጉዳዩ ላይ የምታቀርበው ሰነድ ለሳይንሳዊ ቡድኑ ቀርቦ ዝርዝር ትንታኔ እንዲደረግበት እና ምክረ ሃሳብ እንዲቀርብለት በመስከረም ወር 2012 ዓ.ም በካይሮ በተደረገው ስብሰባ ወስነዋል፡፡

በካርቱም አራት ቀናትን ወስዶ በተካሄደው ስብሰባ የሳይንሳዊ ቡድኑ በመስከረም ወሩ የካይሮ ስብሰባ በተሰጠው አቅጣጫ መሠረት የኢትዮጵያን የግድብ ሙሌት እና የውሃ አለቃቅ ዕቅድ፣ እንዲሁም ሱዳን እና ግብጽ ያቀረቡትን የሙሌት እና የውሃ አለቃቅ ቴክኒካዊ ጉዳዮችን የሚዳስሰውን ሃሳብ አዳምጦ ውይይቶችን አካሂዷል፡፡ ውይይቱ ሶስቱም ቡድኖች በተስማሙበት የርዕሰ ጉዳይ መዘርዝር ላይ የተመሰረተ ሲሆን በአንዳንድ ጉዳዮች ላይ ከመስማማት ተደርሶ በሌሎቹ ላይ የሃሳብ መለያየቶች ተመዝግበዋል፡፡

እነዚህ የሃሳብ ልዩነቶች በሳይንሳዊ እና ጥናት ቡድኑ ውይይት እና ትንተና መግባባት ሊደረስባቸው የሚችሉ ናቸው፡፡
ኢትዮጵያ ግድቡን እሰከ ሰባት አመት ድረስ በሚወስድ ሂደት ለመሙላት ያቀረበችው እቅድ የታችኛውን ተፋሰስ አገራት ጥቅም ለመጠበቅ ያላትን አቋም ያሳያል፡፡ ይህም በተጨማሪም ኢትዮጵያ እና ሱዳን ማናቸውም ቱክኒካዊ ጉዳዮች ለሳይንሳዊ ጥናት ቡድኑ ቀርበው ትንተና እንዲደረግባቸው ገንቢ እና አካታች የውይይት አካሄድ ቢከተሉም የግብጽ ወገን ያቀረብኳቸው ሃሳቦች በሙሉ ተቀባይነት ካላገኙ ውይይቱ ሊቀጥል አይችልም በሚለው የማያሰራ አቋሙ በመቀጠሉ የሳይንሳዊ ጥናት ቡድኑ ስራውን በተሟላ አኳኋን ማከናወን ሳይችል ቀርቷል፡፡ ይህ የግብጽ አቋም የሳይንሳዊ ጥናት ቡድኑ ስብሰባ እንዲሁም የሚኒስትሮች ስብሰባው ስምምነት በተደረሰባቸው ጉዳዮች ላይ ጭምር ሪፖርት እንዳያዘጋጁ አድርጓል፡፡
ይህ የግብጽ አካሄድ አዲስ ሳይሆን ከዚህ ቀደምም በግድቡ ላይ ሶስቱ አገራት ሊያከናውኑት የነበረውን የውሃ፣ የአካባቢያዊ እና ማህበራዊ ተጽእኖ ጥናት በግብጽ ወገን እንዲስተጓጎል በተደረገ ጊዜ የታየ የሳይንስ እና የምክክር የመፍትሄ አማራጭን የማፋለስ ዘዴ ነው፡፡
ኢትዮጵያ አለመግባባት መፍቻ ዘዴን የሚደነግገውን የመርህ መግለጫ ስምምነቱን አንቀጽ 10 ጠቅሶ መፍትሄ ለመፈለግ ጊዜው እንዳልሆነ እና ቴክኒካዊ ምክክሩ ሊቀጥል እንደሚገባ ታምናለች፡፡
የውሃ ሚኒስትሮቹ በሁለት ቀናት ስብሰባቸው የሳይንሳዊ ጥናት ቡድኑ የደረሰበትን ተመልክተው አቅጣጫ ለማስቀመጥ ከፍተኛ ጥረት ቢያደርጉም የግብጽ ወገን ቀድሞውኑ የምክክር ሂደቱ እንዲፋረስ አቋም ይዞ የመጣ በመሆኑ ጉባኤው የሳይንሳዊ ጥናት ቡድኑ በቀጣይነት ማከናወን ስላለበት ተግባር መመሪያ ሳያስተላልፍ ቀርቷል፡፡
የግብጽ መንግስት ሶስተኛ ወገን በጉዳዩ ጣልቃ እንዲገባ እያቀረበ ያለው ሃሳብ በሶስቱ አገራት የትብብር መድረክ የታየውን አበረታች ሂደት የሚያጣጥል እና ሶስቱም አገራት በመጋቢት 2007 ዓ.ም. የፈረሙትን የመርሆዎች መግለጫ ስምምነት የሚጥስ ተግባር ነው፡፡ የሶስተኛ ወገን ጣልቃ-ገብነት ኢትዮጵያ እና ሱዳን የማይቀበሉት እና ተገቢ ያልሆነ፤ በአገራቱ መካከል ያለውን ዘላቂ ትብብር የሚጎዳ፤ ለውይይት ያለውን በቂ እድል ወደጎን የሚያደርግ እና ገንቢ የሆነውን የውይይት መንፈስ የሚያደፈርስ ነው፡፡
ቴክኒካዊ ምክክር የሚጠይቀው የግድብ ሙሌት እና ውሃ አለቃቀቅ ጉዳይ ለፖለቲካ ምክክር እንዲቀርብ የሚጠይቀው ሃሳብም የጉዳዩን ጠባይ ያላገናዘበ፣ የሶስቱ አገራት መሪዎች የውሃ ጉዳይ ሚኒስትሮች ጉዳዩን ለመፍታት የሰጡትን መመሪያ የጣሰ እንዲሁም ተገቢ መፍትሄ ለመስጠት የማያስችልም ነው፡፡
የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ልዩነቶችን ለመፍታት እድል የሚፈጥረውን የምክክር ሂደት ለማጠናከር እንደሚሰራ እየገለጸ በጉዳዩ ላይ የሚሰራጨው የመገናኛ ብዙሃን እንዲሁም ሌላ አሉታዊ ዘመቻ የሶስቱን አገራት መተማመን ከመሸርሸር ያለፈ ውጤት እንደማይኖረው ይገልጻል፡፡

የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት በተደጋጋሚ እንደገለጸው የአባይን ውሃ የኢትዮጵያ ህዝቦችን የአሁን እና የወደፊት ፍላጎት ለማሟላት እና ብሄራዊ ጥቅምን ለማረጋገጥ ማልማቱን በመቀጠል ርትዕን የጠበቀ እና በማናቸውም የተፋሰሱ አገራት ላይ ጉልህ ጉዳት የማያደርስ አጠቃቀም እንዲኖር ይሰራል፡፡

በተጨማሪ የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት በሕዳሴ ግድብ ላይ በሚደረገው ውይይት የሚከተለው አቅጣጫ የናይል ውሃን አስመልክቶ ለተደረጉት እና በኢትዮጵያ ላይ ምንም አይነት ተፈጻሚነት የሌላቸውን ስምምነቶች እውቅና የማይሰጥ እንዲሁም የላይኛውን የናይል ተፋሰስ አገራት መብት የማይጥስ እንዲሆን ነው::

MoFA

የኢትዮጵያ ንግድ ባንክ በውጭ አገር ለሚኖሩ ኢትዮጵያውያን ልዩ አገልግሎት የሚሰጥ ቅርንጫፍ ከፈተ፡፡

የኢትዮጵያ ንግድ ባንክ በውጭ ሃገር ለሚኖሩ ኢትዮጵያውያንና ትውልደ ኢትዮጵያውያን ልዩ አገልግሎት የሚሰጥ የመጀመሪያ ቅርንጫፉን በአዲስ አበባ ከፈተ፡፡

Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed met with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Special Envoys, Mr. Jeff Radebe and Dr. Khulu Mbatha this morning.

The Special Envoy delivered a message from President Cyril Ramaphosa to the Prime Minister, which acknowledges the historic relations between the two countries and extends an invitation to officially visit South Africa, with the purpose of scaling the relationship to a strategic level.

They conveyed the efforts the South African government is undertaking in adequately responding to recent attacks and looting on foreign nationals and appreciated the many Ethiopians playing a positive role in South Africa.

The envoys also expressed their thanks to Prime Minister Dr Abiy for this strong leadership demonstrated in release of prisoners and commended the strengthening of relations with Eritrea.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed recounted the various manifestations of relations between the two countries.
He hailed South Africa as exemplary for Africa in its economic growth and promotion of democracy, according to office of the Prime Minister.

He emphasized the positive role Ethiopians living in South Africa play in contributing to their host country as well as Ethiopia, and encouraged strengthened support from the South African Government for their endeavors in the country.

FBC

The annual Ministerial Meeting of the Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) was held this week on the side-lines of the General Assembly.
Minister Gedu emphasized the multiple development challenges the Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) continued to face because of geographic and other structural obstacles. They might take policy measures to promote structural transformation, diversify economies and increase exports, but they faced particular trade and development-related challenges, including remoteness and high transit costs. These constrained efforts to meet the Vienna Program of Action. LLDC share of global trade remained low. Infrastructural gaps hindered regional integration and slowed structural transformation, and lack of adequate finance and technological and institutional capacity aggravated the problems.
Certainly, he said, achieving inclusive and sustainable development was primarily a national responsibility, but a renewed global partnership with development partners, public and private, was vital to fully achieve the Vienna Program of Action. Coordinated and enhanced international support in manufacturing, trade, and productive capacity to complement national efforts, would contribute significantly. Establishing effective and efficient infrastructure systems and facilitating fast movement of goods and services, with cooperation and partnership of transit countries, was critical for the integration of LLDCs into the global market.

Mr. Gedu emphasized that since the adoption of the Vienna Program of Action, Ethiopia had worked to implement it in line with the national development plan and priorities. Achieving inclusive and sustainable industrialization and building resilient infrastructure were priorities of the Ethiopian government. It was taking policy measures to improve the manufacturing base, and enhance “connectedness as well as competitiveness.” It was giving special attention to labour intensive and light manufacturing sectors, in agro-processing, leather and textiles. It had We established industrial parks to simplify access to land, and assist in logistics and custom services. In addition, the Ethiopian government had also making massive public investment in infrastructure, to enhance productive capacity and promote regional integration. The Minister said there had been encouraging progress in expanding road, railway and air transport services and in working with neighboring countries to establish and maintain effective transit systems on the basis of common interest. In addition, the government has recently taken bold decisions to diversify sea outlets and further promote regional integration.

This amounted to some progress, but, he added, there was still a lot to be done to realize inclusive and sustainable development in Ethiopia. The Minister reaffirmed Ethiopia’s
commitment and readiness to redouble efforts to fully implement the Vienna Program of Action and the Sustainable Development Goals in close collaboration with development partners.
The world’s landlocked countries, whose populations amount to about 440 million, face a whole series of challenges associated with their lack of direct territorial access to the sea and remoteness from world markets. The dependence on other countries for international trade is an additional problem. The Vienna Program of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries for the Decade 2014-2024 came out of the second UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries, held in Vienna in 2014. It addresses the challenges landlocked countries face and aims to contribute to the eradication of poverty, through the implementation of specific actions in priority areas.
The six priorities it identified were: Fundamental transit policy issues; Infrastructure development and maintenance, in transport infrastructure and energy and information and communications technology infrastructure; International trade and trade facilitation; Regional integration and cooperation; Structural economic transformation and Means of implementation. These allowed for an emphasis on development and expansion of efficient transit systems and transport development, enhancement of competitiveness, expansion of trade, structural transformation, regional cooperation, and the promotion of inclusive economic growth and sustainable development to reduce poverty, build resilience, bridge economic and social gaps and ultimately help transform those countries into land-linked countries.
MoFA

እንኳን ለመስቀል የደመራ በዓል አደረሳችሁ!!
Ethiopia’s #Meskelfestival: Bonfires, robes and crosses