Abstract
A brief analysis is made of the 1966 Helsinki Rules on the Uses of the Waters of International Rivers, with a focus on the statement that each basin State is entitled, within its territory, to a reasonable and equitable share in the beneficial uses of the waters of an international drainage basin. It is shown that it is rare for most agreement to establish the rules concerning the use of international water bodies involving inevitable strict responsibility for any breaches thereof. A brief characteristic of the Nile river and its basin is provided. The main international agreements for the Nile river are highlighted. Prominence is given to the 1929 and 1959 Agreements where Egypt’s “natural and historical” rights to the Nile waters were recognized. In spite of the fact that many States were dissatisfied with some provisions in the agreements, they continued to cooperate on various current and strategic issues arising in the basin. The Nile Basin Initiative that began with a dialogue among the riparian States was officially launched in 1999 by the water ministers of nine countries that share the river with the purpose of achieving sustainable socioeconomic development through the equitable utilization of, and benefit from, the common Nile Basin water resources. In May 2010, the representatives of Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya signed the Framework Agreement on the Nile Basin. In February 2011, the Agreement was signed by Burundi, and DR Congo is also expected to sign. It is the first multilateral agreement on the Nile Basin. Since the early 2000s Ethiopia has been active in the construction of hydropower stations on the Nile tributaries, including the largest station in Africa. The struggle of the States in the upper reaches of the Nile for revision of the unjust colonial agreement will necessarily result in accession of the other countries to the Cooperative Framework Agreement or to the preparation of a new agreement which would foresee an equitable sharing of the Nile water resources in the interests of all the Basin States.
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Original Russian Text © A.P. Demin, 2015, published in Geography and Natural Resources, 2015, Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 188-196.
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Demin, A.P. Distribution of water resources: A case study of the transboundary Nile river. Geogr. Nat. Resour. 36, 198–205 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1875372815020134
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1875372815020134