Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Nile messenger_Abeba Getu

Abeba Getu is my young sister. Bsc degree in Industrial Engineering and now on her thesis for Msc in Environmental Engineering. Besides her background in Environmental Education, she has a knack for communication and media with enthusiasm in writing. Posted with her permission on Sunday, August 26, 2012.

the picture depicts blasting along the dam axis on the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

Nile Messenger_Abeba Getu

The preparations for my upcoming field trip to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, added with this Essay Competition for NILE MESSENGERS made me to glimpse deeply about the role that international summit and interactions among peers at the national level play in determining the future of the relationship among countries that share rivers.

In the past few years’ news started coming out that the downstream Nile riparian countries were strongly opposed to the development of hydro power plants on the Nile River. In the arid lands of the Arab, water is a precious resource. Whenever Arab leaders hold summit meetings much anxious talk is devoted to what they like to call “water security”. In the past year such talk has taken on a special urgency. Arabs feel that their access to three of the region`s life-giving rivers-the Euphrates, the Jordan and the Nile-is being threatened by the non-Arab countries upstream. As long as Hydro Electricity or Irrigation on potential rivers is concerned, Socio-Environmental issues are always the concern. Shared waters could be either a source of conflict or a source of cooperation and prosperity.  Today, the growing need for water resources for development has brought intense political and economic tensions among the countries that share rivers that flow across two or more countries.

The Nile river is the longest river in the world and the total area of the river basin is more than 3,349,000 Km2 and the basin is a home to around 160 million people (with in the boundaries of the basin). In the ten countries that share the Nile’s water, about 300 million people are living (UNESCO, 2006).

Addressing the challenge of moving towards greater cooperation and joint development has been central to the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), a riparian-led process of joint decision making and cooperative development that emerged during the 1990s. NBD (Nile Basin Discourse) is a network of civil society organizations from the 10 countries of the Nile Basin:  Burundi, DRC, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. This network seeks to achieve positive influence over the development of projects and programs under the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) and other Nile-related programs. 

I believe that the riparian states in the Nile Basin should work for “benefit-sharing” rather than “water-sharing” and this should be the basis for their transboundary cooperation.  If we see Studies made on this regard at present, more than 55 percent of the World’s population lives in internationally shared river basins.  We can cite examples of successful transboundary water cooperation where political and economic problems such as upstream-downstream relations, diverging economic development etc., could be wisely solved. These include: the Rhine River cooperation, the Columbia River cooperation and the Senegal River cooperation. 

My point of argument is still there is a challenge of creating a more cooperative environment for the management of Nile waters, still the region characterized by poverty, instability, rapid population growth, and environmental degradation and still  some  of the Nile Basin states are among the world’s poorest countries. I would like to say today we must lift the consciousness of the people, the wind is rising and the rivers flowing, times are getting hard and we can't let it happen anymore. Nile is the 'river god' or ‘Sissay’ in Amharic is the hope for the highly growing population of the region and for the intermingling of cultures which has always characterized the area. 

Due to the political and economic nature,   the issue has been hold by the government level; we youths are mostly not the concern.  But I believe that we shouldn’t view transboundary socio-environmental issues and impact of youth organizations as two separate movements. Youth is a most people in any nations, because they will build the future, so a chance should be given to show what we have. Social dialogue be improved to ensure young people participate in the process of policy formulation and implementation

The youth is networked more than ever, in recent years we have witnessed the powerful political impact of young activists in this region of the Nile. And I believe together with NBD, by reinforcing environmental education and awareness; and support funds to activist youth organizations, this same youth can build better economy with better ecosystem. The youth can improve today’s awareness of “water-sharing” which is focused only on protection and will initiate and accelerate progress with protection! 

With transboundary youth network like NBD, we will be informed to choose the future.  Researching youth should be supported to publish their findings; this will help us to develop confidence and trust. The water problems of our world need not be only a cause of tension; it can also be a catalyst for cooperation....If we work together, a secure and sustainable water future can be ours. By organizing Cultural shows  like music, myths, documentary videos and blogging experiences in social networks; the youth will be fully informed and be able to develop mutual understanding and will be motivated to enforce decision makers to implement management of resources  equitably for sustainable development.