Sudan is ready to participate in any peaceful initiative to resolve the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) crisis and bring all parties together to reach an agreement that serves their interests, said Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok before the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday.
The UN Security Council had held two meetings to address the crisis. It met in July after Ethiopia announced that it had started to fill the dam again after talks with Egypt and Sudan had faltered.
Hamdok reiterated his country’s rejection of “all unilateral measures” regarding the dam, stressing the importance of reaching a comprehensive, binding and legal agreement on its filling and operation.
Sudan fears that the GERD will put the operation of its Roseires dam, which is located near the Ethiopian dam, and the lives of millions of Sudanese citizens at “a very high risk” if an agreement regulating its operation and filling is not reached.
“We have suffered during the past weeks from the adverse effects of the first and second unilateral filling, despite the costly preventive measures taken by the Sudanese government,” Hamdok told the Assembly from Khartoum.
Commenting on the transitional process in Sudan, he said that despite the recent progress, the country still needs international support.
He stressed the importance of completing the government’s economic reform plans, which include exempting Sudan from all its debts, obtaining loans and partners fulfilling of their pledges at the Berlin and Paris conferences.
He further called for dropping the procedural restrictions after removing Sudan from the US state sponsors of terrorism (SST) list so that it returns to the international community.
The transitional government continues to implement its policies aimed at achieving democratic transformation and the rule of law. It has also been working to improve the human rights and the economic infrastructure.
