In the form of an official letter, the Sudanese Foreign Minister Mariam Al-Mahdi formally requested the holding of a session on developments in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) dispute to the UN Security Council (UNSC).
In the letter submitted by Sudan to the UNSC, it was emphasized that a legally binding agreement should be reached through the negotiation process initiated by the African Union, which ended in deadlock last April due to Ethiopia’s “lack of political will.” In addition, the letter included Sudan’s efforts in detail, emphasizing that regional peace is in the interest of all parties involved.
Al-Mahdi also urged the UNSC to alert Ethiopia not to take any unilateral action and not proceed with the second filling of GERD, which is expected to take place in July, despite the rejection of this move by both Egypt and Sudan.
Omar Faruk, Sudan’s spokesperson for the GERD dispute, stated that if Ethiopia unilaterally continues the second filling of GERD, it will endanger the lives and safety of millions of Sudanese citizens. Alongside this, Faruk urged the UNSC countries to be at the mediation table and to find possible peaceful ways to end the dispute over unresolved issues in the GERD talks. As Sudan has previously stated, he also called on the UN and African Union, as well as other international and regional organizations to assist in advancing GERD negotiations to end this conflict.
Earlier, Egypt had sent a letter to the head of the UNSC denouncing Addis Ababa’s plan to unilaterally advance with the GERD filling for the second time in July. In the letter, it was stated that this step is expected to affect the water security of the downstream countries of Egypt and Sudan.
In addition, in the 95-page letter, it was stated that the negotiations between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia, which lasted for ten years, as well as the last round mediated by the African Union in Kinshasa, stopped due to Addis Ababa’s intransigence.
