Ministers in charge of Water Affairs from the Nile Basin countries have reviewed and commended progress made by the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) in the last fiscal year 2010/2011 especially the fact that $979 million investments have been generated in development projects covering power interconnections, agriculture and watershed management. Representatives from Burundi, DR Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda met for the 19th ordinary Nile Council of Ministers (Nile-COM) meeting under the theme: The Nile Basin – An imperative for Cooperation. The Republic of South Sudan participated as observer. Members endorsed the NBI Work Plan aimed at institutional strengthening for the period July 2011 to December 2012 with a budget of USD 14,440,827. Also endorsed is the establishment of a Reserve Fund and other resource mobilization efforts so as to continue with the implementation of NBI projects and programs. The Guest of Honor, Kenya's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Uhuru Kenyatta congratulated the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) for implementing programs and projects that have created trust and confidence among communities and states of the Nile Basin. He underscored the role of NBI in developing climate change mitigation measures which can be integrated into the national policies of NBI Member States to overcome the frequent occurrence of droughts and floods and the resultant food insecurity, among others. Uhuru Kenyatta revealed that through its new constitution, the government of Kenya has given prominence to the management of shared waters as a sign of its commitment to the sustainable management and development of shared water resources without causing any significant harm to neighboring countries, as required by international law. The 19th Nile-COM meeting announced rotation in the chairmanship of the Nile-COM from Ethiopia's Minister of Water and Energy, Alemayehu Tegenu to Kenya's Minister of Water and Irrigation, Hon. Charity Ngilu effective July 2011 for one year. It is a tradition within NBI to rotate this position on an annual basis among Member States in alphabetical order (Burundi, DR Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda). The in-coming Nile-COM Chair, Charity Kaluki Ngilu stressed the importance of establishing a permanent Nile River institution to safeguard the gains to date and to steer the basin to the next level. “In this regard, there is a sense of urgency to conclude the outstanding issues within the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) to ensure that all the basin states are on board”, she said. Ms. Ngilu said as Chairperson of the Nile-COM, she will focus on real issues affecting the citizens of the Nile Basin. For example; climate change mitigation and adaptation strategy will take a center stage; food security; management and conservation of catchments focusing on mechanisms of ploughing back into the catchments by the riparian states; as well as mobilizing the communities within the basin states to rally behind efforts of the Nile-COM. This is in addition to addressing issues raised by Egypt and Sudan with regard to the CFA signing and its legal and institutional implications. The Ministers agreed to convene an extra-ordinary Nile-COM meeting to discuss the CFA signing and its legal and institutional legal implications as requested by Egypt and Sudan during the 18th Nile-COM meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in June 2010. As part of the agenda, the Extra-ordinary meeting will also discuss the position of South Sudan as a potential member of the NBI. Earlier, the outgoing Nile-COM Chairperson, Tegenu reiterated the inevitability and need for Nile cooperation given the threats and challenges that the Nile Basin region has continued to face, particularly extreme climatic and weather conditions, natural resources degradation as well as food insecurity. The Executive Director of the Nile Basin Initiative Secretariat, Dr. Wael Khairy said NBI is implementing several projects in natural resources management and power interconnection in the Nile region to complement national interventions with aim of contributing to sustainable socio-economic development in the Nile region. BM
