Declaration of principles for Blue Nile water use agreed

Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Ethiopian prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn and Sudanese president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir on 23 March signed a declaration of principles intended to help resolve the longstanding dispute over the 6,000MW Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd). The ten principles, which were published in full on the Egyptian Ahram Online website, recognise the dam as a primarily hydroelectric facility and refer to areas such as compensation, fair and appropriate use of water resources and the filling and operation of the dam. Downstream countries Egypt and Sudan were granted priority access to electricity generated by the facility.