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Ethiopia Demands Bolstering Role of Observers in GERD Talks

This handout picture taken on July 20, 2020, shows an aerial view Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile River in Guba, northwest Ethiopia. (AFP)
This handout picture taken on July 20, 2020, shows an aerial view Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile River in Guba, northwest Ethiopia. (AFP)
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Ethiopia Demands Bolstering Role of Observers in GERD Talks

This handout picture taken on July 20, 2020, shows an aerial view Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile River in Guba, northwest Ethiopia. (AFP)
This handout picture taken on July 20, 2020, shows an aerial view Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile River in Guba, northwest Ethiopia. (AFP)

Ethiopia has stressed the need to bolster the role of observers and experts in the years-long stalled negotiations on the controversial mega-dam it is building on the Blue Nile.

Egypt and Sudan are calling for a legally binding agreement on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam’s (GERD) filling and operation to guarantee their water rights, while Ethiopia refuses to commit to any agreement that limits its capability to develop its resources.

Ethiopian State Minister of Foreign Affairs Redwan Hussein said Friday that the practical way to overcome the dispute over the GERD is to continue and end the trilateral talks between Cairo, Khartoum and Addis Ababa.

According to the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA), Hussein called for bolstering the role of observers and experts to assist the current African Union chair - the Democratic Republic of Congo - to push forward the GERD talks.

He made his remarks during a meeting with ambassadors of the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) and Latin American countries in Ethiopia.

Addis Ababa finished in July 2020 the first phase of filling the reservoir, in preparation for its operation, achieving its target of 4.9 billion cubic meters. This year, it targets filling an additional 13.5 billion cubic meters.

The latest round of talks between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia in Kinshasa ended in early April with no progress made.

Ethiopia is pinning its hopes of economic development and power generation on the GERD, which Egypt fears will imperil its supply from the Nile. Sudan is also concerned about the impact on its own water flows.

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry stressed on Thursday Cairo’s readiness to exert the necessary effort to make the negotiations a success.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had previously announced that the second filling of the dam reservoir will go ahead as scheduled in the next rainy season in July/August.

Sudan’s Irrigation Minister Yasser Abbas urged parties on Thursday to reach a legally binding agreement to exchange daily information on means of operating the dam to ensure that no party is harmed.

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UN Says It's Ready to Ramp Up Delivery of Desperately Needed Aid to Gaza

A Palestinian man rides a donkey-pulled cart along a street on a misty morning in Khan Yunis in the northern Gaza Strip on January 17, 2025, as Israel's security cabinet is expected to approve a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
A Palestinian man rides a donkey-pulled cart along a street on a misty morning in Khan Yunis in the northern Gaza Strip on January 17, 2025, as Israel's security cabinet is expected to approve a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
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UN Says It's Ready to Ramp Up Delivery of Desperately Needed Aid to Gaza

A Palestinian man rides a donkey-pulled cart along a street on a misty morning in Khan Yunis in the northern Gaza Strip on January 17, 2025, as Israel's security cabinet is expected to approve a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
A Palestinian man rides a donkey-pulled cart along a street on a misty morning in Khan Yunis in the northern Gaza Strip on January 17, 2025, as Israel's security cabinet is expected to approve a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)

The United Nations said Wednesday that it’s ready to ramp up the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza following a ceasefire agreement and urged the removal of major security and political obstacles so supplies can reach all Palestinians in need.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the announcement of a deal to pause the fighting “a critical first step” and told reporters that the UN’s top priority must be to ease the tremendous suffering caused by the conflict triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in southern Israel, The Associated Press said.
“The humanitarian situation is at catastrophic levels,” he said. “From our side, we will do whatever is humanly possible, aware of the serious challenges and serious constraints that we will be facing.”
UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said aid agencies have been mobilizing supplies in preparation for a ceasefire to scale up deliveries of food, medical supplies and other key items.
Less than half of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are functional, water production is at a quarter of capacity, 95% of school buildings have been damaged or destroyed and nearly all of Gaza’s 2.1 million people are facing high levels of food insecurity, said Catherine Russell, executive director of the UN children’s agency UNICEF.
The top UN humanitarian official for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, met with senior Israeli and Palestinian officials in recent days to discuss how to increase aid after a ceasefire agreement, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday.
Kaag’s meetings focused on trying to overcome challenges to deliveries that could remain even after the deal, including gunmen stripping convoys of aid, Israeli restrictions on access to Gaza, road damage, unexplored ordnance, fuel shortages and a lack of telecommunications equipment, he said.
The UN humanitarian office reported Tuesday that “Israeli authorities continue to deny UN-led efforts to reach people with vital assistance,” Dujarric said. In northern Gaza, where Israel launched its latest offensive, the UN has been denied access to deliver food supplies since Dec. 20, he said.
In addition to the lawlessness, the United Nations faces a major political obstacle. Its humanitarian operation in Gaza depends on the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, which Israel’s parliament voted to ban from operating in the Palestinian territories. That legislation takes effect on Jan. 28.
Guterres has said there is no UN agency that can replace UNRWA, and if it is banned from operating, Israel as the occupying power in the Palestinian territories must take responsibility for providing aid.
UN officials said it’s imperative that the ceasefire deal is fully implemented and aid is allowed to flow freely.
“With the collapse of essential services across Gaza, we must act urgently to save lives and help children recover,” Russell of UNICEF said in a statement.
Guterres said the United Nations expects its efforts to be matched by other humanitarian organizations, the private sector and government initiatives.
David Miliband, head of the International Rescue Committee, said aid groups must be given full access and adequate funding to rush aid to Gaza’s people after 15 months with limited food, clean water and medical care. He said his organization would quickly ramp up efforts: “The needs are immense and need urgent attention.”
Jan Egeland, a former UN humanitarian chief who heads the Norwegian Refugee Council, said, “Israel must immediately lift all restrictions on aid and humanitarian agencies to avert famine-like conditions and ensure access to shelter, food, and medical care for all in need.”
He called on the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and other nations “to make sure Israel does keep all crossings open, enabling a sustained flow of aid that can alleviate further suffering.”
US President Joe Biden, speaking in Washington, said, “The surge of humanitarian assistance into Gaza will begin. And the innocent people can have a greater access to these vital supplies.