Tunisia-UN: Tunisia submits draft resolution on Ethiopian dam

Tunisia has presented to the UN Security Council a draft resolution calling on the Ethiopian government to halt the second filling of the Renaissance dam.

Egypt, which depends on the Nile for approximately 97% of its irrigation and drinking water, perceives the dam as a menace to its water supply. Sudan, for its part, worries that its own dams will be damaged if Ethiopia continues with the filling. Ethiopia, for its part, maintains the hydroelectric power created by the dam will be vital to meeting the energy needs of its 110 million people. The two nations downstream of the dam urged Ethiopia not to fill in until an agreement is approved.

Tunisia, with its draft resolution, provides for the Security Council to call on Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to renew their negotiations at the request of the President of the African Union and the Secretary-General of the United Nations. It further orders the three countries to reach, within six months, a binding agreement on the filling and management of the dam.