Sudan president launches the Nile Environmental meeting

KHARTOUM, May 29, 2004 (Sudan Tribune) — The Sudanese president Omar Al-Beshir launched the Nile Transboundary Environmental Action Project (NTEAP) at the Friendship Hall in Khartoum today.

The Nile Transboundary Environmental Project (NTEP) is the first of the 8 basin-wide projects to be implemented on the ground under the Shared Vision Program of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI).

In his speech, the Sudanese President called for both national and international support to curb the environmental hazards that have continued to plague the region and appealed to the Nile Basin States to work together to foster regional peace and development within the Basin.

Al-Beshir stated that the NTEAP would provide a unified approach to managing transboundary water resources within the Nile Basin region. “Since environmental hazards are not restricted within geographical boundaries, local and international efforts are required to overcome the dangers and threats in the environmental arena. This project is providing solutions to these problems”, he said.

The Kenyan Minister of Water Resources Management and Development, Martha Karua, in her address congratulated the Sudanese President for the recent peace accord between the Government and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), and noted that the peace accord would help promote cooperation and development in the region.

Karua who is also the Chairperson of the Nile Basin Council of Ministers (Nile-COM) noted that “only cooperation is the key to our future. There is no other option. There is certainly still a long journey ahead and the challenges cannot all be addressed in a short period of time. At all cost, we must maintain our commitment to the process as we are seeing today of the Sudanese government and people.”

The Nile-Com Chair expressed appreciation to the NBI development partners for their support and appealed to them to continue providing assistance to the next generation of projects being considered by Nile-COM. These projects will further contribute to the betterment of the lives of peoples in the Basin.

During his speech, the Executive Director of the Nile Basin Initiative, Mr. Meraji Msuya commended the Nile Council of Ministers for the support and guidance provided in the NBI process.

Representatives from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) pledged their commitment and continuing support to the NBI process to bring tangible benefits to the peoples of the Basin.

The Nile Basin Initiative is a regional partnership initiated by the Nile countries in 1999 to realize a shared vision “to achieve sustainable socio-economic development through the equitable utilization of, and benefit from, the common Nile Basin water resources”.

The Nile countries are translating this vision into concrete investments and action on the ground that will build confidence and capacity across the basin. This is being done through the implementation of two complementary programs namely: the Shared Vision Program and Subsidiary Action Programs.