Nile basin states water Ministers to meet at the end of June

Water Ministers from nine member states of the Nile Basin are scheduled to meet in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, next week to hold the 18th regular meeting of Council of Ministers of Water Affairs.

Ethiopia Ministry of Water Resources said the ministerial meeting will hear performance report of last fiscal year as well as approve plan and budget for the year 2010/2011.

Some 60 water ministers, development partners, counselors, and invited guests are expected to take part at the meeting which will be preceded by a five-day meeting of the technical committees.

The 1999 Nile-Council of ministers (COM) meeting, held in Addis Ababa, was a major milestone in the history of Nile Basin cooperation.

It was the first time that all Nile Basin Countries (with the exception of Eritrea) participated in the ministerial meeting. Under the chairmanship of Ethiopia, the meeting endorsed the new transitional institutional arrangement, which is known as the Nile Basin Initiative.