Transboundary Rivers

Last week, I had the privilege to attend the Mesopotamia Water Forum at the University of Sulaimani in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Organized by the Save the Tigris campaign, the forum was the first of its kind, bringing together researchers and campaigners from throughout Mesopotamia, from all stretches of the mighty Tigris and Euphrates river basins. The 150 participants represented different countries, languages, and cultures, but were united in calling for Mesopotamian waters to be shared equitably, and to be used as a tool for sustainable peace rather than conflict. Emergency flooding b

This week, Ethiopia announced it was diverting the flow of the Blue Nile to begin building the huge Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Water-stressed Egypt – a downstream Nile Basin nation – soon called for Ethiopia to halt work on the dam. Egyptian politicians have been brainstorming ways to stop the project, including hostilities. Why is the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam causing such strife? In addition to Egypt’s fears that it will reduce its lifeline of Nile waters, the tensions have been fanned by the project’s poor planning process.

In this guest blog, Eugene Simonov from Rivers without Boundaries explains the benefits of a new transboundary water convention and encourages NGOs around the world to get involved in it.

China has made great efforts to support poverty reduction in Africa, and likes to present itself as a friend of the African people. A new report warns that its loans for the Gibe III Dam and irrigation projects on the Omo River now threaten to pull China into an explosive regional conflict between well-armed groups in Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan.