The Nile Basin Discourse has pledged to find solutions to the controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile.
NBD officials said the conflict among Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan requires a wider approach for a solution to be found.
Regional manager Hellen Natu said NBD, being an organisation with grassroots forums in 10 countries, will strive to find solutions.
NBD has a network of 10 national discourse forums in 10 countries — Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Egypt, D.R Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya and Rwanda.
Natu said as NBD they look for solutions and don’t focus on the conflict.
She said NBD has initiated a number of trans-boundary projects aimed at promoting togetherness in the project countries.
NBD through its grassroots forums has the capacity to initiate dialogue aimed at finding solutions to the conflict over the dam.
“We will look for a win-win kind of solution when we are looking at shared water projects,” she said during the eight NBD General Assembly in Nairobi on December 11.
The manager said NDB has been running a trans-boundary project between South Sudan and Ethiopia but they did not factor in funds to address the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
Natu said they have clustered the countries of Ethiopia, South Sudan, Egypt and Sudan to discuss environmental sustainability in the region.
“We brought these countries together not to discuss the dam but to discuss flood matters that affect communities. We need to come up with solutions to enhance the livelihoods of the vulnerable communities in the four countries,” she said.
However, she said, the efforts were jolted by the dam conflict and it is difficult to bring the communities together when there is tension.
“The challenge we faced was conflict among the two countries. Since we are a grassroots oriented organisation, it is a challenge bringing communities together when there is a conflict,” she said.
During the general assembly, Verdiane Nyiraman was elected the chairperson, Joseph Ngome, secretary general, Peter Mawa, vice chairperson and Agnes Namusiitwa, treasurer for a period of three years.
Nyiraman, who hails from Rwanda thanked the members for electing her as she promised to work for the network to her ability.
“I have been working with NBD since 2018 as a vice chair and I will continue with the good work,” she said.
Nyiraman said she had sourced funds to carry out projects on climate resilience as she looks ahead to focus on major strategic activities.
Ngome who is a Kenyan and the current chairperson of Kenya Nile Discourse Forum enumerated a number of interventions undertaken in the country towards environment conservation.
He said they have a number of running interventions geared towards a clean environment.
“We are engaging women and youth to be on the frontline to to create awareness to the larger public on the importance of protecting our environment,” he said.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
