Egypt Supports Introducing Regional Early Warning Systems for Water, Climate

Egypt’s Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel Aty speaks at Sunday's event. (Egypt’s Irrigation Ministry)
Egypt’s Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel Aty speaks at Sunday's event. (Egypt’s Irrigation Ministry)
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Egypt Supports Introducing Regional Early Warning Systems for Water, Climate

Egypt’s Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel Aty speaks at Sunday's event. (Egypt’s Irrigation Ministry)
Egypt’s Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel Aty speaks at Sunday's event. (Egypt’s Irrigation Ministry)

Egypt expressed its backing for the adoption of a plan to develop and apply a regional early warning systems over water and climate.

The step aims at increasing the readiness of all regional countries to address “extreme phenomena,” such as torrential rains and droughts, and protect citizens from the impact of climate change.

Egypt’s Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel Aty participated virtually at a meeting of the Global Alliances for Water and Climate (GAfWaC) held on Sunday as part of the Dushanbe Water Conference hosted by Tajikistan.

He said Cairo attaches great importance to GAfWaC and works on rallying international support for the coalition at all international conferences given Egypt's scarcity of water resources.

The Alliance is one of the international initiatives that aim to achieve integration between water and climate agendas.

Its members include presidents Tajikistan and Hungary. It is also led by various relevant UN organizations, including the World Meteorological Organization, which is one of its major founders.

Abdel Aty stressed that climate change is one of the most pressing issues the world is facing, given its growing impact on water resources and food production across the world.

He called for intensifying national efforts to adapt to climate changes and providing the necessary funding to implement projects to that end, as well as taking the necessary measures to reduce emissions.

Egypt has implemented many projects in this field, including flood protection projects, which aim to protect citizens and buildings from the destructive effects of torrential rains, and beach protection projects, which aim to adapt to rising sea levels.

The minister underscored the importance of the participation of GAfWaC’s members in the COP27 Climate Summit, which will be held in Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh in November.



Egypt, Zambia Discuss Need to Promote Integration Within African Countries

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi received on Monday his Zambian counterpart, Hakainde Hichilema in Cairo (Egyptian Presidency)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi received on Monday his Zambian counterpart, Hakainde Hichilema in Cairo (Egyptian Presidency)
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Egypt, Zambia Discuss Need to Promote Integration Within African Countries

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi received on Monday his Zambian counterpart, Hakainde Hichilema in Cairo (Egyptian Presidency)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi received on Monday his Zambian counterpart, Hakainde Hichilema in Cairo (Egyptian Presidency)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and his Zambian counterpart, Hakainde Hichilema, have stressed the crucial need to promote cooperation and integration within Africa as part of their countries’ commitment to fostering stability in the continent.

Egypt’s presidential spokesman, Mohamed el-Shennawy, said Monday that the two leaders held a closed-door meeting, followed by expanded discussions that involved the two countries' official delegations.
They also witnessed the signing of a number of cooperation agreements between the two countries, the spokesman said.

Speaking at a joint press conference, Sisi said that he held fruitful and constructive discussions with Hichilema that reflected the shared political will to shore up bilateral cooperation in the political, economic, social and development domains.
Sisi expressed Egypt’s readiness to transfer its development expertise and provide all forms of support and assistance to Zambia with the view to enhancing the capabilities of its workforce in priority areas, and collaborating on strengthening operational frameworks within Zambia's state institutions.

The Egyptian President highlighted the investment opportunities in the “Lobito Corridor” project, as part of efforts to stimulate the engagement of the Egyptian public and private sectors in investment activities in Zambia.

This aims to unlock new avenues for cooperation between the two countries’ business communities and capitalize on the Egyptian-Zambian Business Forum, held during Hichilema’s visit, he said.

“Driven by this commitment, we agreed on enhancing the contractual frameworks between our countries in the areas of political consultation, promotion of mutual investments, agriculture, aquaculture, and infrastructure,” Sisi said.

He added that they also agreed on the importance of joint action and the need to coordinate positions to advance African priorities on the international agenda.

Hichilema and Sisi underscored the importance of reforming continental organizations to boost their capabilities to address current challenges and to better serve the interests of their peoples.

“We emphasized the crucial need to utilize continental frameworks, notably the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA), to bolster regional integration and amalgamation among African countries,” Sisi said.

In addition, the talks touched on a multitude of regional and international issues of mutual interest, with special focus on developments in Gaza, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Horn of Africa, as well as Red Sea security and water security.
The two leaders reiterated their countries’ commitment to fostering stability in Africa and the Middle East region.