PRESS RELEASE – The Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy of Ethiopia said the tripartite negotiation between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan on the Guidelines and Rules for the first filling and annual operation of the Great Ethiopian Reconnaissance Dam (GERD) continued for the fifth day on Monday, 15 June 2020.
“Under the Chairmanship of Egypt, the three countries negotiated on technical issues on the first filling and annual operation of the GERD. The Chair of the previous day meeting recapped the issues on which convergence is reached, including the rules on the first stage filling, volume of environmental flow, guidelines for first stage filling, the drought management rules, rules on dam safety, environmental and social impact assessment studies, and entry into force of the Guidelines and Rules,”
“Today’s negotiation mainly focused on discussions on drought management rules during the filling and operation of the GERD. Ethiopia underlined the need to follow an approach that ensures the joint responsibility of the three countries in the incidence of drought while preserving the optimal operation of the GERD.”
“The negotiation will reconvene on Tuesday 16 June 2020. The legal teams will convene earlier tomorrow to tackle the predominantly legal issues and the trilateral meeting will follow with the chairmanship of Ethiopia,” the Ministry said. The negotiations is being held via video-conference in the presence of the observers.