Members of the Egyptian American community have petitioned the Trump Administration and the international community to resume GERD negotiations in an open letter detailing the potential ecological, economic, social and political implications of Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam on Egypt, Youm7 reports.
The group, which comprised academics, professionals and others, announced that it intends to organize a rally outside the White House tomorrow, Sunday, 15th of March, to call on the Trump Administration to support Egypt’s water rights and make more effort to ensure the continuation of negotiations.
A report prepared by the group assessed that the completion of Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam would deal a major blow to Egypt’s agricultural sector and lead to the loss of millions of agricultural jobs, and a rise in food prices as well as poverty and crime rates.
Egypt’s power sector will also suffer dire consequences, according to the report, which predicts that the country’s hydropower output will decrease drastically.
The report stated that these effects will extend to other downstream countries such as Sudan and its heavier reliance on fertilizers that will eventually stream into Egyptian waters and disrupt its ecosystem.
In addition to assessing the project’s potential damage, the report accused Ethiopia of evading its responsibilities and disregarding international law through its unilateral actions.
The National Association of Yemeni Americans also registered its solidarity with the Egyptian American community and called on all Arab community leaders in the United States to join the planned protests outside the White House and the World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC, RT Arabic reports.
Similarly, another petition started circulating on petition platform Change.org, calling on the Ethiopian government to honor its legal responsibilities and “abide by the 2015 Agreement on Declaration of Principles (DoP),” as part of a public action campaign.
These efforts come after years of tough negotiations among Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, with the last round of failed talks taking place in Washington, where the three parties failed to sign an agreement on the filling and operation of the dam.
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