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Nile-FlowA Quarterly Newsletter

of the Eastern Nile Technical

Regional Office (ENTRO)

We work for the Shared Benefits of Cooperation

VOLUME 3ISSUE

05

MARCH 2015

ونحن نعمل من أجل المنافع المشتركة للتعاون!ለጋራ ብልፅግና እንተጋለን!

Editorial 5News and Events 6Concepts that Matter 20Conversations 24Staff News 27Did you know...? 27Eastern Nile Environment at a Glance 29 Highlight 29

In this issue

Editorial

5

NewsandEvents

6

3

Editorial Committee:

Wubalem Fekade (phd)Awoke kassaSelamawit HaileAkewak Yadeta

Contacts:

Eastern Nile TechnicalRegional OfficeDessie RoadP 27173-1000T +251 116 46 1130/32F +251 116 45 94 07E [email protected] http://ensap.nilebasin.org

Production: Dscope PLCT +251 911 69 25 89

About ENTRO

Established in March 2001 in Ad-dis Ababa, Ethiopia, ENTRO is the executive arm of ENSAP. ENTRO’s mandate includes: (a) preparing co-operative water resources invest-ment programs and projects and (b) providing secretariat support to ENCOM, the Eastern Nile Council of Ministers of Water Resources, the highest governance and decision making body of ENSAP.

What is in a name?

We have chosen“Nile -Flow” as the name of our Newsletter.

Nile – Our great river.

Flow –the flow of our great river, running through the three sisterly Eastern Nile Subsidiary Action Program (ENSAP) Countries of Egypt, Ethio-pia, Republic of South Sudan and the Sudan; connecting the people, their cultures, their histories and shared destinies since time imme-morial.

Flow –in the psychological sense also symbolizes a feeling of energized focus, of total engagment, and succes in the activity being under-taken– i.e in the ENSAP coopera-tion process we are all engaged in.Thus the twin message: a descrip-tion of reality, on the one hand, and a statement of hope, vision and purpose on the other.

The Editorial Committee encour-ages editorial contributions from readers.

Please send your contributions to the editor in Chief, Wubalem Fekade (PhD) at: wfekade@nileba-

sin.org

Cover photo

Herd of elephants in Boma National Park (Photo courtesy: Wildlife Conservation Society)

Contents Editorial 5

News and Events 6

Concepts that Matter 20

Conversations 24

Staff News 27

Did you know...? 27

Eastern Nile Environment at a Glance 29

Highlight 29

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News and Events

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Editorial

A Statement is made!!The 28th ENCOM (Eastern Nile Council of Ministers), the highest decision and governing body of the Eastern Nile Subsidiary Action program (ENSAP) and of ENTRO (Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office) Meeting took place on February 12, 2015 in Kuriftu Resort, De-brezeit, Ethiopia. The ENCOM Meeting was preceded by a two-day 29th ENSAPT (Eastern Nile Subsidiary Action Program Team) Meeting. ENSAPT is the technical advisory body of ENCOM.

The 28th ENCOM Meeting demonstrated to the NBI family and to the world at large, the re-solve and commitment of those countries still in the Eastern Nile cooperation orbit i.e. Ethio-pia, Sudan and South Sudan, to sustain the cooperation momentum and keep their common institution, ENTRO no matter the financial and other challenges it may bring forth to the coun-tries. At the Meeting the Ministers agreed to make a one-time contribution of USD 454,000 to cover ENTRO’s budget deficit for 2015 which arose from the fact that most of the funds the World Bank has been managing – the Nile Basin Trust Fund in particular, are closing.

The payment is over and above their annually growing country contribution to ENTRO. This, in a nutshell, is a statement to the NBI fraternity and the wider development partner com-munity at large that ENSAP and ENTRO are here to stay; that Eastern Nile cooperation is not a matter of convenience but an existential necessity! These mΩzzeasures indicate that many stakeholders are internalizing the fact that there are certain things we cannot change – such as the fact that Eastern Nile countries, including Egypt, are tied by the Nile- and therefore are tied thru a common destiny that is unfolding. In many ways geography is destiny. Hydrology is destiny. We cannot change these facts. But there are other things we can change. We

can change how we relate to each other through this common resource called the Nile. We can change how good or bad; smart or less smart neighbors we could be. Eastern Nile water resources can be and should be entry points and catalysts for broader regional integration that will enable the countries to har-ness the huge potential the basin harbors. Unless we think big and long-term and act fast, the anticipated threatening Climate Change impact will catch us all unprepared, with severe, multifaceted consequences for our peoples, for our ecosystem and for our future.

With such backing and commitment as we have from our governance, we here at ENTRO shall stay stead fast to our Mission and shall keep working “for the shared benefits of Cooperation!!”

This issue of Nile flow contains an update of what ENTRO has been doing lately. We have in-cluded interview of our incoming Executive Director, Ato Fekahmed Negash. Three colleagues have left us in 2014. Mr. Tesfaye Gudeta, one of the earliest members of ENTRO who was Senior Accountant, died suddenly, shocking us all. Dr. Salah Shazali, who worked in various capacities, including as the first social development officer and Senior Operation Officer for the ISP and NCORE projects and Dr. Yosif Ibrahim, who was heading the Water Resources Planning Unit and also served as Officer in Charge for over three years – both resigned for personal reasons. All will be missed. We plan to “download” the invaluable tacit knowledge of these two colleagues in our forthcoming Nile Flow Issue “Conversations” Section.

Wubalem Fekade, Ph.D.Head, Social Development and Communication

Eastern Nile cooperation is not a matter of convenience but an existential necessity!

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News and Events

National Training on application of GIS & RS tools for watershed planning and management 14th-23rd September 2014, Wedi-Medeni, Sudan

From the 14th to the 23rd September 2014, ENTRO held the National Training on application of GIS & RS tools for watershed planning and management in Wedi-Medeni, Sudan. The training workshop on appli-cation of GIS and RS tools and techniques intends to enhance the technical capacity of project staff as well as partner institutions involved in watershed manage-ment to undertake effective planning, management & monitoring of watershed management practices.

The specific objectives of the training include: to train key project staff and partner institutions in the application of GIS and RS tools in planning and management of watershed projects so that they can train and support other staff and stakeholders on GIS & RS applications; and to prepare a compre-hensive training manual on application of GIS and RS for immediate use by the trainees

- The training workshop was designed in order to achieve the following:

- Refresh the knowledge of participants on the ba-sics of RS and GIS techniques.

- Provide hands-on exercises on the use of GIS for land use mapping analysis,

- Learn how to use satellite and ground observation data for land use change detection and watershed assessment and monitoring,

- Provide hands-on experience on catchment de-lineation with RS data in a given watershed, and

- Provide hands-on exercises on the use of GIS for catchment hydrology.

A resource person with extensive experience was re-cruited to facilitate the training. A training manual was also prepared and distributed to the participants. 20 participants attended the training.

Compiled by Awoke Kassa, M&E officer

A workshop on Communication for Effective Cooperation in Eastern Nile 22nd to 24th September 2014, Nazareth, Ethiopia

Journalists, media experts and a number of other participants from Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Sudan took part in a 3-day workshop organized by ENTRO. The workshop focused on updating media profes-sionals about the latest progress and activities in ENSAP and NBI; providing hands on training-cum-awareness about how Nile Basin cooperation is sensationalized by international media, while the EN media professionals themselves, provide very limited substantive coverage to actual cooperation happen-ing within NB countries; and the role of the media and communicators. Conclusions from the work-shop point out that this kind of workshop will help the media groups and communication experts en-hance their understanding on challenges and oppor-tunities of water and related resources in the East-ern Nile, facilitate networking among different media people in the EN and the role of the Eastern media and communicators as information multipliers is par-amount to public advocacy and awareness-raising. The workshop brought together 45 communicators, Media professionals, journalists, and representa-tives from Water & Irrigation Ministry, ENTRO staff, Interns, consultants and Nile SEC staff represented by the head of Water Resources Management de-partment and Communication Specialist.

By Akewak Yadeta, communication expert

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News and Events

ENTRO takes part in the 4th Nile Basin Development Forum October 6-7, 2014, Nairobi, Kenya

The Fourth Nile Basin Development Forum held in Nairobi on October 6-7, 2014 on the theme, “Build-ing Sustainable Trans-boundary Cooperation in a Complex River Basin: Challenges, Lessons and Prospects”. ENTRO was a member of the Organiz-ing Committee of the Conference from the very start, nearly a year ahead of the event. ENTRO contribut-ed to the conference at various stages, from theme selection, sessions formulation, paper selection and overall logistics and organization. ENTRO staff’s were also panelists in the conference. ENTRO took part in the heavily attended biannual forum, taking part in poster presentations. ENTRO participated in putting together results from deliberations of the 12 sessions of the conference and produce a Decla-ration of the Conference, which was accomplished and the result distributed to the media and posted on the NBI website.


ENWSM Knowledge Exchange Visit to the Loess Plateau, China 21st- 30th October 2014

Representatives from Ethiopia, South Sudan and Sudan exchanged experiences in the 12 day visit to the Loess Plateau, China. A field visit event was organised at the Loess Plateau, China where water-shed projects are ongoing and shared their results and lessons learned.

The main purpose of organizing experience ex-change visits is to document experiences of par-ticipatory watershed management in the countries to be visited and draw lessons which will be use-ful and applicable to the development of integrated watershed management interventions. Experience exchange visits will provide a forum to discuss on project implementation modalities and contribute multi-disciplinary perspectives on approaches and thereby ensure performance of project implementa-tion and sustainability of outputs. Such exchange of knowledge will also serve as a forum for capac-ity and confidence building by enabling interaction among professionals of the basin.

Knowledge and experience exchange tour will en-hance the technical capacity of institutions involved in watershed management to undertake effective planning, monitoring & evaluation of watershed management interventions and thereby strengthen the role and capacity of national institutions in the development of pro-poor investments and services to promote productive and environmentally sound livelihoods with local community participation. In line with the above general objective, the main pur-pose of organizing this study tour was to document experiences in rehabilitation of watersheds and Rainwater Harvesting in China’s Loess plateau and draw lessons applicable to the development of inte-grated watershed management interventions in the Eastern Nile context. The International study visit was intended to complement a range of capacity building activities being organized by ENTRO at re-gional and national levels.

18 participants drawn from the three Eastern Nile countries of Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan and EN-TRO attended the study visit which was held from 21st-30th October 2014. The study visit was fa-cilitated by the Gansu Research Institute for Water Conservancy (GRIWC), People’s Republic of China.

In addition to visiting different interventions in the field, the group had opportunities to interact with communities as well as administrative and technical staff at different levels. Detailed report on the visit was prepared and will be distributed with a purpose of disseminating the experience to a wider group.All watershed management projects work towards changes that benefit beneficiary. Participants pre-sented their findings, and formulated insights to be applied in ENWSM activities. In addition partici-pants discussed about practical ideas for collabora-tion. Participants were very enthusiastic about the

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visit and all promised to use it actively.

The Knowledge Exchange Visit was an excellent oc-casion that demonstrated to the EN Visit Group how social and environmental issues can be integrated in practice in the management of EN watershed man-agement. A report has been prepared on the Visit, and will be due out shortl

18 participants drawn from the three Eastern Nile countries of Ethiopia, Sudan and South Sudan and ENTRO attended the study visit which lasted from October 21-30, 2014. The study visit was facilitated by the Gansu Research Institute for Water Conserv-ancy (GRIWC), People’s Republic of China.

Compiled by Akewak Yadeta, communication expert

Dam safety Training workshops Water infrastructures, in particular dams, bring water, power, flood control, recreation, economic possibili-ties and many other advantages to people. However, it is crucial to think about safe operation and main-tenance of water infrastructures to sustaining these advantages and avoiding potential disaster.

In Eastern Nile dam safety issue appears to be criti-cal issue. Among others: there are aged dams which need close monitoring, inspection, maintenance and remedial works and improvement of instrumentation for safety monitoring; water storage dams (large and complex) are being operated and constructed, particularly on trans-boundary rivers; limited tech-nical, financial and institutional capacity to handle safety of existing large and complex dams; absence of regional and national dam safety guideline and framework are available to manage safety of dams in the basin; The sub basin lacks regional coopera-tion on trans-boundary dam safety management

To address dam safety needs, ENTRO has been working on the development of dam safety guide-line, preparation of dam safety regulation framework and capacity building to enhance the technical ca-pacity of EN water resources planners, policy mak-ers, engineers, designers and experts in the field.

Recently ENTRO produced three important docu-

ments on dam safety to strengthen the planning and implementation capacity of dam safety in the EN sub-basin. The documents include: Eastern Nile Reference Dam Safety Guideline (both for small and large dams which has tans-boundary nature); Small Dam Safety Guideline (focusing on national level small dams) and Dam Safety Training Module. In addition to the documents on dam safety, ENTRO conducted several trainings.

4th Dam safety Training Workshop on Water Infrastructures Planning, Design and Construction Management 27th -29th October 2014, Juba

The overall objective of the training workshop was to strengthen the capacity of South Sudan experts on planning, design and construction aspects of water infrastructure. The specific objectives were: To pro-vide an overview of Eastern Nile regional dam safety guideline; To develop human resources capabilities and create self-reliance in the ministry emphasiz-ing on the following components; Preparation of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, design reports, specifications and tender document preparation and evaluation ; general design aspects on dams and hy-dropower schemes ; Investigation methods - possi-bilities and limitations; to provide basic concepts on dams development in a transboundary water resourc-es and to consider the management context dealing with technical and socio-environmental issues.

25 participants attended the training workshop. In terms of gender composition, 8% were female par-ticipants. The training workshop was facilitated by five resource persons who have regional and inter-national experience.

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5th Dam Safety Workshop on Dam Safety Inspection and Monitoring for Dam Operators 17th -19th November 2014, Khartoum

The main objectives of the training workshop were to:create awareness on EN dam safety practice and EN Dam safety guidelines; provide basic training on dam safety management principles, failure conse-quences and international best practices; and raise the competence level and practical knowledge on dam operation, inspection, instrumentation reading and interpretation techniques, Emergency Action Plan and documentation.

The training was given by three experts drawn from within the region and internationally. Each of the experts has over 15 years of experience of water resources development or dam projects including many projects within the Nile basin or elsewhere in Africa. A total 23 dam operators attended the train-ing workshop (6 from Ethiopia, 15 from Sudan and 2 from South Sudan). In addition to presentations, group exercise and site visit to Sennar dam was part of the training

6th Dam Safety Training Workshop on EN Dam Safety Training Module Review and ToT Training, 1st – 3rd December 2014, Nazareth, Ethiopia

The objective of the Dam Safety Module Development is to strengthen the capacity of dam safety manage-ment in the Eastern Nile, specifically through the de-velopment of a short term dam safety training module & and through the provision of short term training.

The training module will be used by the staff of Eastern Nile Universities to train interested students (including but not limited to Ministry staff, other pro-fessionals and students) in dam safety. The dam safety training module has the following main ob-jectives: serve as a guide for the trainers, e.g. EN University staff; serve as a reference guideline for trainees; and provide basic checklists for dam safe-

ty management. The workshop was attended by 32 participants. They were academics, engineers and scientists who represented the countries of Ethio-pia, South Sudan, and Sudan.

7th Dam Safety Training Workshop on Dam safety in a Trans-boundary Water Resources Context 4th - 5th December 2014, Nazareth, Ethiopia

The objective of the training workshop was to pro-vide an overview of dam safety management in a transboundary water resources context dealing with concepts of regulation, institutional arrangements, cooperation and information sharing. It was aimed to strengthen the capacity of higher officials and policy makers on dam safety management in the Eastern Nile. The specific objectives were to: cre-ate awareness on basic dam safety principles, dam incidents and risks associated with dam safety; pro-vide an overview of Eastern Nile regional dam safety guideline and dam safety practice assessment re-port for high level officials and policy makers; pro-vide an overview of dam safety management in a trans-boundary water resources management con-text dealing with concepts of regulation, institutional arrangement, cooperation, information sharing, and participation and planning; strengthen interaction and networking among participants in dam safety management; and provide examples of dam-related trans-boundary water agreements, conventions, challenges and opportunities around the world and offer practical experience.

The workshop participants were parliamentarians, policy makers, planners, regulators and high level experts working in the Water, Energy and Environ-ment Ministries of Ethiopia, South Sudan and Su-dan. 31 participants attended the workshop.

Compiled by Awoke Kassa, M&E officer and Akewak Ya-deta, communication expert

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Review Workshop for Preparation of Watershed investment projects (NCORE), Nov 2014ENTRO has organized review workshops in Chemoga, Fincha, Upper Atbara, & Tulkuk in November 2014. The aim of the review workshop was to consult with and collects feedback from key stakeholders about the prepared watershed man-agement projects so that it is possible to incorporate what was missed by the study team. Furthermore, it was also aimed at transfer of knowledge to partici-pants in the area of project preparation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects.

ENTRO through its Eastern Nile Watershed Man-agement Project (NWSMP) has built a significant degree of experience in the analysis, identification and preparation of watershed interventions from a

transboundary, basin-wide perspective. With the goal of up scaling the experience gained so far and sustain the Regional cooperative process, ENWSMP has been assisting the EN countries to conduct pro-ject preparation for four identified sub-watersheds (Chemoga, Fincha, Upper Atbara, & Tulkuk) from technical, environmental, social, economic, finan-cial, and institutional perspectives.

The overall aim is to conducting studies leading to the preparation and design of investment projects for four watersheds in Ethiopia and Sudan. The goal of these investment projects is to promote sustain-able livelihoods among the communities within the watersheds by employing various development in-terventions. Another critical impact anticipated from

the projects would be contribution to the reduction of sedimentation of downstream facilities.

The Projects identified and previously delineated are:

1. Integrated Watershed management: Abbay Sub-basin, Chemoga Catchment. Ethiopia in an area of high potential but degrading resource base.

2. Integrated Watershed management: Abbay Sub-basin, Fincha’a Catchment. Ethiopia in an area of high potential but degrading resource base.

3. Restoration of Kerib Land along the Upper Atbara River, Sudan.

4. Support to Water Harvesting in the Gash Delta, Kassla, Sudan.

A joint watershed investment preparation team com-prising of national/local agency staff with ENTRO specialists and Consultants undertook the prepara-

tion of these investments.

The final report, in an investment ready format, was finalized in December 2014. The final reports were prepared in two volumes. Volume 1 is the main re-port and volume 2 is annexes to the main report.

The workshop has achieved the following short-term results: Feedback collected to enrich the pro-ject documents; common understanding created among the key projects’ stakeholders about the project development setting, project components, institutional arrangement, environmental and social framework and monitoring and evaluation approach of the projects; and also participants ensured their commitment to work closely with the project in order

The 4 new Watershed Management Investment Projects in Numbers

Project Name Hectares covered Estimated population Cost estimate (US$)

1. Chemoga Integrated Water-shed Management-Ethiopia 131,768 533,811 116.7 Mln

2. Fincha Integrated Watershed Management-Ethiopia 188,708 456,981 126.6 Mln

3. Restoration of Kerib Land along the Upper Atbara River-Sudan 126,043 66,614 17.7 Mln

4. Support to Water Harvesting in the Gash Delta, Kassala-Sudan 594,737 274, 978 32.3 Mln

Total 915,213 ha 1, 057,406 US$ 293.3 Mln

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to implement the project successfully and achieve the planned results.

76 participants attended the review workshop rep-resenting Government offices, Universities, target communities, NGOs, consultants and ENTRO. Of whom, 24 were from Chemoga-Yeda, 14 from Fin-cha, 11 from Atbara-Kerib, 14 from Telkuk, 7 from Sudan Watershed Component. ENTRO and con-sultants were represented by 3 participants each. In terms of gender composition, 8 (11%) were female participants.

Compiled by Awoke Kassa, M&E officer and Akewak Yadeta, communication expert

MSIOA Situation Analysis Report Review Workshop, November 2014, Khartoum

MSIOA Situation Analysis Report Review Work-shop was held in Khartoum from 15-16 November, 2014. The MSIOA- Situation Analysis Workshop was conducted with the aim of consulting with relevant stakeholders, gathering their feedback and to have a technical discussion on the deliverables of the Sit-uation Analysis. The workshop is believed to serve as a plat form to examine whether the study cap-tured the opportunities and risks associated with the potential investment options. In the two days con-sultation workshop participants: ENSAPT members, consultants, development partners, ENTRO staff

and stakeholders contributed in the development of methodology, main indicators and possible scenari-os that can be used for scoping and in deliverable of the MSIOA study.

The EN-MSIOA study is one of several specific stud-ies that is being undertaken to achieve the general objective of the NCORE from the Eastern Nile per-spective. The overall objective of the Multi Sectoral Investment Opportunity Analysis is to develop a re-gional water investment strategy for the EN region that broadly supports socio-economic develop-ment, poverty reduction, and the reversal of envi-ronmental degradation .


ENTRO holds the Second New Nile Conference in on 8 and 9 December 2014 Addis Ababa

From 8-9 December 2014 an international confer-ence themed “New Nile Opportunities: Scientific Advances towards Prosperity in the Eastern Nile Ba-sin” took place at the UNECA Conference Centre in Addis Ababa. Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office (ENTRO) organized the conference in collaboration with UNESCO-IHE. International Water Manage-ment Institute (IWMI) and Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands in Sudan financially supported the conference.

The New Nile Conference series was conceived in the context of the emerging changes driven by proliferation of water infrastructures; increasing land conversion for agriculture; degradation of critical ecosystem wild life, biodiversity and environmental assets; land/environ-mental degradation; growing demand for Nile water in the midst of insufficient scientific understanding of the river system and the potential impact of Climate Change. This Conference is a follow up to the first New Nile Perspective Conference of Khartoum 2013.

The aim of this Second New Nile conference was advancing the scientific frontier in adaptive and ef-

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ficient water management and more productive use of the Eastern Nile water for the collective socio-economic development of the countries. This con-ference is being conducted as part of the long-term strategy to keep the scientific community engaged and constantly contribute to optimizing the benefits from emerging development opportunities, while at the same time addressing the challenges that these opportunities bring along. This was repeatedly heard during the opening plenary of the Second New Nile Conference in the UN-ECA Conference Center in Addis Ababa on 8 and 9 December 2014.

In his welcoming remarks ENTRO’s Executive Direc-tor Mr Fekahmed Negash, stressed the necessity of averting competition and misunderstanding through a multi-level approach for genuine and all inclusive cooperation. He also pronounced the role the scien-tific community could play by identifying the drivers of cooperation and indicating the benefits of coop-eration and costs of non-cooperation. Fekahmed also added that the results of the findings which will beinterrogated, tested and verified through scientif-ic methods could shape the nature of the collective decisions we make as regards many facets of Nile water resource use and management.

In keynote address - read-out on behalf of the guest of honor Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy, H.E. Alemayehu Tegenu - it is remarked that such forums can enhance knowledge based decision making and facilitate negotiation and cooperation informed by hard science for fair, equitable and sus-tainable use in the Eastern Nile.

Professor Pieter van der Zaag of the UNESCO-IHE,

in his keynote address, discussed Benefit-sharing, Infrastructure development and African examples of jointly owned, constructed and managed dams. He stated that large infrastructure can have positive ex-ternalities but burden sharing also needs to be con-sidered. According to Pieter, Eastern Nile countries have a lot to learn from the experience of the jointly owned, constructed and managed dams such as: - Khatse Dam: Orange Senge River and Maguga Dam: Incomati River where sharing benefit is un-derpinned by well defined data, a strong institution,

and a bilateral agreement. Pieter also stated that Joint infrastructure implies prosperity and regional stability if imaginative measures to ensure compli-ance, trust and formal agreements are put in place.

Dr. Musa Muhammed Abseno, International Water Law and Policy Expert and Consultant, on his part said the role of the scientific community in promot-ing hydro-diplomacy is critical. He also indicated that it must go beyond the consideration that coop-eration is only the mandate of the government and should engage all stakeholders e.g. private sector, cultural leaders, and water users and wide range of expertise i.e. multi-disciplinary approach needed.

The the scientific community will help in tackling the lack of genuine cooperation in the development and protection of the Nile water resources, he added.

The conference presented and discussed the sci-ence of the river Nile and its status, the ecosystem and environmental services it supports, Climate Change impacts which could potentially lead to frequency of extreme events and the cumula-tive impact which would threaten environmental sustainability, development challenges in the ba-sin and opportunities for transboundary coopera-tion amongst the countries. The conference was structured in 12 parallel sessions for the three sub themes: Understanding the Eastern Nile Water Re-sources System (The physical system: Hydrology, Climate Change, Watershed management); Eastern Nile Developments: status and alternative scenarios for the future (Hydro-economic development: Agri-culture; Hydropower; Water supply and sanitation, Infrastructures development; Trade-offs: Upstream versus downstream or basin wide development, Socio-economic development versus environmen-tal sustainability); and Water Diplomacy and Hydro Politics in the Eastern Nile (Cooperation in Eastern Nile, Hydro politics, interdependencies, Complex Adaptive Systems, Water diplomacy, water policy, regulations, governance and mechanisms of en-hancing participation).

Researchers, scientists and scholars from Eastern Nile countries (Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan and South Sudan), Netherlands, Germany, Australia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Canada and USA took part in the con-

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ference. These experts shared perspectives and solutions which focused on: the challenges and op-portunities that come along with the proliferation of water infrastructures; degradation of critical eco-system, wild life, biodiversity and environmental as-sets; land/environmental degradation; high popula-tion and urbanization growth rates induced growing demand for Nile water; growing uncertainty and ex-pected climate change impacts; sedimentation; the competitive utilization across the Nile basin and the hydro politics in the basin.

In this second New Nile conference interesting re-search papers are presented. Among others, some presenters brought “new” issues which were sub-jects of hot discussion in the 2 days conference. Marlies Barendrecht a graduate student from Neth-erlands (TU Delft and UNESCO-IHE) introduced the concept of Water Accounting+ as “a way of reporting on the water resources conditions in a river basin, in-cluding hydrology, water management, land use and services, based on open access data”. She pointed out the importance of giving more attention to an integrated approach for improving water, land and ecosystems management and the best tool would be Water Accounting+ for this integrated approach. Takele Seboka(PhD), Associate Professor of Law University of Western Australia, also spoke about Human Rights to water approach for Nile under the topic “ Humanizing Regulation of the Nile: The Hu-man Right to Water in the Nile Basin” . He argued that, taking the Nile basin as a case study, the dec-laration of the human right to water will potentially influence, and positively contributes to, the rules and principles applicable to transbundary water sharing arrangements in the Nile basin and elsewhere. In particular, He pointed out that the declaration of the human right to water by the continental quasi-judi-cial body (African Commission) within the regional Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights has direct implications on the setting of priorities of water allo-cation and the ordering of the types of uses to which Nile waters can be put. In his study he concluded that the human rights approach to water allocation plays a transformative role, placing local rights hold-ers at the centre of transboundary water allocation, which Nile riparian states need to take into account more often than they currently do. Another partici-pant, Yasir S. A. Ali (PhD) from Sudan, in his paper entitled “the impact of soil erosion in the upper blue Nile on downstream reservoir sedimentation” pre-sented a study that combines source to sink through sediment transport in the river system. He argued that the analysis of land-use changes and the identi-fication of the degree of soil erosion are not enough to identify Eroded sediment that is transported to the lower Blue Nile Basin, where sedimentation oc-curs in reservoirs and irrigation canals. In his study he posits that a study that combines source to sink through sediment transport in the river system is

needed. He also indicated in his presentation that the only effective solution to reduce the sedimenta-tion problems will be that of reducing the sediment input. According to Yasir we can identify the most critical eroding areas in the upper basin via identi-fication the origin of the sediment deposited in Ro-seires Reservoir, linked the mineral characteristics of the material of the eroded areas in the upper basins (Ethiopia) and the deposited soil layers inside reser-voir. This method help to assess the land use-land cover changes in the sub-basins providing the most sediment and link these to soil erosion rates.

The objectives of this 2nd Conference are: 1) Ad-vancing the scientific frontier in adaptive and effi-cient water management; 2) To disseminate and dis-cuss the results of state-of the art research, along with identification of y present and future potentials and threats in the Eastern Nile and 3) To form new alliances for future Nile research.

In many ways the Second New Nile Conference was ‘international scientific event’. Key academics lined up to praise cooperation and push for all states to proffer efforts at achieving real development for the basin’s economies and peoples. In all the sub-themes of the conference a general consensus was emerging on the need to put development at the centre of cooperation.

This Conference was attended by more than 110 partic-ipants who came from Eastern Nile and other countries.


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Review workshop on integrated watershed development in the eastern Nile: field guide and toolkit for watershed management 01 – 02 December, 2014 Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

ENTRO held a workshop to review watershed man-agement field guideline and toolkit on 01 – 02 De-cember, 2014 in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. The NCORE watershed management work at ENTRO prepared field guide for watershed management in the East-ern Nile which has a purpose to assist professionals concerned with the planning and implementation of watershed management activities by providing practical information supported by examples from a wide variety of situations. Among others, the work-shop is meant to serve as a platform for the would be users of the field guide to add the local experi-ence and information deemed necessary which will help to include the unique situation in each country.

The final report, in an investment ready format, was finalized in December 2014 and sent for publication. The final reports were prepared in two volumes. Vol-ume 1 is the main report and volume 2 is annexes to the main report. The purpose of the guideline is to serve as a reference document for field techni-cians working in natural resources management. It is expected to contribute to the upgrading of the technical contents and scope of planning and man-agement of watershed management interventions in Eastern Nile countries.

Wide range of stakeholders from Ethiopia, Sudan and South Sudan took part in the workshop.


Regional Training on Project Preparation (NCORE funding) 17th- 20th December 2014, Khartoum

From the 17th-20th December 2014, ENTRO held the Regional Training on Project Preparation (NCORE funding) in Khartoum. The overall objective of this training is to build the capacity of national institu-tions on concepts, principles and practices of pro-ject preparation, building on the lessons learned from implementation of on-going investment pro-ject preparation and other experiences in the region, and thereby assist them to conduct and advance detailed watershed project preparation from techni-cal, environmental, social, economic, financial, and institutional perspectives.

Towards providing a comprehensive understanding of a project preparation, the training focused on the following major themes:

• Introduction to project cycle management: Phases in project cycle and their sequence, management tasks and management tools

• Project preparation: Logical Framework Approach (LFA) as a project planning tool; LFA processes and steps: situation analysis, stakeholder analysis and capacity assessment, problem and objective analysis, analysis of al-ternatives, activity planning; logical framework matrix; and implementation arrangements

• Project design and analysis tools (based on the LFA)

• Use of LFA to develop activity and resource scheduling

• Tools to assess the quality of project propos-als (to identify weaknesses or gaps in project design related to relevance, feasibility and sustainability

• Designing a Monitoring and Reporting system

• Project Evaluation

A resource person with extensive experience was recruited to facilitate the training. A training manual and reference materials were also prepared and dis-tributed to the participants. 22 training participants (7 each from Ethiopia, South Sudan and Sudan and 3 from ENTRO) attended the program.


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Regional Capacity Building Workshop in Social Development and Environment Management 27th - 29th Dec 2014, Bishoftu, Ethiopia

This workshop was organized for ENTRO national fo-cal points (Sudan, RSS and Ethiopia) and also for EN-TRO Regional Coordinators, some of who are newly hired. The workshop was also organized for ENSAP social development and environment working groups.

The phasing out of CBSI (2010) and NTEAP (2012) created a gap that ENTRO now plans to redress by the reconstitution of a regional social development and environment management working group. The plan includes revitalization of the role of National Social Development Coordinators as well as nomi-nation by the countries of National Environment Management Focal Points – at the Ministries of Wa-ter Resources and the Power Utilities. In pursuit of its plan, ENTRO organized a workshop to revitalize the regional working group

The objectives of the workshop include: Revitaliza-tion of the Regional Social Development and En-vironment Management Working Group, capacity building for members of the regional group, and deliberation on mandate and future plans of the re-gional working group.

The capacity building training workshop focused on topics such as: NBI/ENSAP/ENTRO update; NB sustainability framework; NBI environment & social policy; environment audit concept and tools; EN-SAP environment and social management guidance; NBI gender policy and strategy; gender audit; NBI public participation framework; climate change and enhancing resilience; SSEA and EIA ;roles, respon-sibilities and future plans of regional working groups and methodologies for collection of social data.

49 participants attended the training workshop. Of whom, 38 were from Government offices and Uni-versities, 1 Intern, 8 ENTRO staff, 3 consultants. In terms of gender composition, 24% were female participants.

Compiled by Awoke Kassa, M&E officer and Akewak Ya-deta, communication expert

Water Diplomacy Workshop 30th - 31st Dec 2014, Khartoum

The second Track II water diplomacy workshop was held in Khartoum, Sudan. In the program introduc-tion by Dr Wubalem and opening remarks by Mr Fekahmed Negash it is indicated that the water di-plomacy workshop series and the idea for this Track II Water Diplomacy emerge out of ENTRO’s need on “how, without violating the limits of its man-dates [that restrict it to only preparing agreed upon cooperative investment programs and building knowledge and capabilities] to promote exploration of new ideas and approaches on the part of non-formal actors and stakeholders (within and outside the region) to eventually inform or otherwise feed to the negotiation process for more positive, win-win, breakthrough outcomes?” In this context the Ob-jectives of the workshop were: To introduce work-shop participants to the state-of-the-art (theory and practice) in Track II water diplomacy and how Water Diplomacy can help resolve current differences and disagreements in Nile Basin Cooperation; and to fa-cilitate networking among Eastern Nile stakehold-ers to encourage exploratory deliberations, seek new avenues, engaging in joint problem solving , documenting the results (recommendations, way forward innovative, break-thru/win-win proposals) and work out ways of disseminating them, includ-ing to relevant policy makers/negotiators to make a positive difference in negotiated outcomes. This is expected to facilitate, in the long run, emergence of epistemic community of Eastern Nile water re-source professionals, policy makers, managers, re-searchers, thinkers etc. dedicated to the promotion of inter-riparian cooperation and sustainability of the common Nile Basin resources.

Extensive presentations were made on the potential and untapped role non-government actors could in-fluence positively (by encouraging governments in various ways, including thru positive media cover-age, blogs, articles, etc.) the emergence of a negoti-ated (Track I) outcome, in which all parties end up

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as winners. The presenters underlined that trans-boundary water has to be understood as a flexible resource facing increasing demand and uncertain variability rather than assuming that there is a fixed amount of water to divide among different users. Concepts such as adaptive water management, Conflict Management Styles, human rights to water, International water law and track II water diplomacy have been discussed in detail.

The program of the track II water diplomacy work-shop focused primarily on lectures from Dr Takele Soboka, Dr Wubalem Fekade, Dr Musa Abseno and Akewak Yadeta.

The workshop concluded a way forward “Khartoum statement on Eastern Nile cooperation” in which participants committed themselves and pledged to support and encourage EN governments to deep-en and broadened Nile cooperation and called on Egypt to rejoin the Nile basin family.

A range of participants from a cross section of Eastern Nile took part in the workshop, including: government, civil society, academia, media, parliamentarians, ex-diplomats, elders, the NBI and ENTRO.


National Capacity Building Work-shop in Social Development and Environmental Management1st-6th Dec 2014, Juba

Capacity building of ENTRO staff and country teams of ENSAP projects is a precondition for effective in-tegrations of social development and environmen-tal concerns. Accordingly, ENTRO has organized a series of national and regional capacity building in social development and environment management. The social development modules covered social and gender issues in natural resource, stakeholder processes, methodologies for social and environ-mental assessments in project preparation, and conflict transformation emanating from natural re-sources use and project implementation.

The capacity building training workshop focused on four themes: the trans-boundary aspects of environ-mental management, the integration of social and environmental issues, approach to climate change in ENSAP projects and environmental management in the project cycle.

The objective of the training workshop was to famil-iarize with key NBI/ENSAP social and environmental policies and to ensure good practice in integrating social and environmental concerns and priorities into the preparation and implementation of ENSAP projects among key stakeholders in South Sudan.

22 participants attended the workshop. Of whom, 15 were from Government offices and Universities, 4 ENTRO staff, 3 consultants. In terms of gender composition, 27% were female participants ENTRO hired consultants from the region to support deliv-ery of key issues, while overarching themes were covered by the ENTRO.


GIS and Remote Sensing Training Workshop for South Sudan 1-5 December 2014, Juba

GIS and Remote Sensing capacity building training workshop was held in Juba from 1st-5th December 2014. The five days training was given for South Su-dan participants and interns on new public-domain data sets. The training aimed at building the capac-ity of professionals from south Sudan in the area of global data sets which will help in filling the knowl-edge gap that ENTRO and its stakeholders grap-ple with. It is indicated that remote sensing training is vital to contribute to the capacity building effort and filling the knowledge gap in South Sudan. In the

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training Topics covered were: principles of Remote Sensing (Theory); Visible and Infrared Remote Sens-ing (Theory and Applications); Thermal Infrared Re-mote Sensing (Theory and Applications); microwave Remote Sensing (Theory and Applications); Satellite Remote Sensing of Rainfall (Theory and Applica-tions) and various spectral bands.


ENTRO Internship program: The 3rd and 4th Batches It has been a while since ENTRO initiated the In-ternship program with the aim of helping a range of stakeholders by providing opportunity of net-work and collaboration among Eastern Nile Water Resource professionals, academic Institutions and Ministry Offices. It is widely agreed that the program is helping to contribute for the sustainability of the EN cooperation by expanding the range of stake-holders and leveraging inter-university cooperation among the EN countries to support the NBI-ENTRO achieve the shared vision. With this objective the 3rd and 4th batch of interns under NCORE was engaged in different activities

3rd Batch Internship:The 3rd batch of internship was started in the mid of June 2014. In this batch, 15 interns from Ethio-pia, South Sudan, and Sudan were divided in to five groups and accomplished the following.

Dam safety group: Reviewed of Easter Nile Guide-lines for small dams report, and Guideline produced on Eastern Nile (EN) Dams Operation, Inspection and Maintenance

IT, GIS and Communication group: Flood Adminis-tration Tool developed, which will be used by the flood forecasting team to read time-series data gen-erated from models, developed Flood Forecasting application, initiated irrigation web application.

Database and Data Quality group: Web portal re-quirement data gathered.

Water Diplomacy group: A paper was prepared on EN adaptive water management, and the 2nd New Nile Conference call for paper was initiated

Flood Forecasting and Early Warning group: Produced daily and weekly Forecast Report for Lake Tana Flood-plains (Eta weather forecast model, combined flood forecasting models) and supported the enhancement of Lake Tana Models, produced daily and weekly Forecast Report for Blue and Main Nile System in Su-dan (Sudan FEWS) and supported the enhancement

of Sudan Flood Forecast Models, Developed Flood Forecast Models for BAS flood prone areas.

4th batch Internship: The 4th batch internship was started in October 2014. In this batch, 16 interns were divided in to five groups and accomplished the following.

Dam Safety group: Revisited the dam safety toolkit, enhanced and added functionality, Small /Micro dam safety assessment, prepared database for small dam in Ethiopia and Sudan, enhanced the user manual of the toolkit and supported the en-hancement of the dam safety toolkit. MSIOA group: Supported the MSIOA team in collecting data and providing support when it was needed like updating and collecting social, environmental, economic, and water resource related, prepared some maps for the MSIOA study, prepared model input data sets with the team and ENTRO, schematized, calibrate and run Mike-Hydro model for different scenarios (which are developed by ENTRO and the MSIOA team), and supported ENTRO library in the preparation of cita-tion for the regional Nile Basin bibliography.

Watershed Management group: Developed water-shed modeling system to determine suitable sites for small dam to Fincha and Chemoga sites, and prepared user manual for the developed models.

Web Portal group: Supported the IT component in the development of Web based Information Manage-

ment System, supported database administration and web application development, and design the new structure to enhance web portal and navigation.

Water Diplomacy group: Assisted in the coordina-tion of the second Water Diplomacy Workshop, and the Second New Nile Conference.

During both of the internship program interns at-tended various trainings on Dam safety, remote sensing, GIS, programming, watershed manage-ment and modeling. In addition, consecutive train-ing sessions were provided for the young profes-sionals which include: ENTRO staff training and orientation on the Analytical tools and programs, training on developing interactive tools using Ex-cel functionality (writing VB code, recording mac-

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ros, etc), creating animated products and Arc GIS by World Bank experts, and database development and introduction to programming with C# by Web specialist consultant.

Compiled by Awoke Kassa, M&E officer and Akewak Yadeta, communication expert

Climate Risk Assessment training workshop, Dec 21-22, 2014 Khartoum

ENTRO organized a training workshop on “Climate Risk Assessment (CRA) “on 21 – 22 December 2014 in Khartoum, Sudan. The workshop was attended by 30 participants from Ethiopia, South Sudan and Su-dan. The workshop participants were from Eastern Nile national & regional institutions viz. government offices and universities involved in climate change, and implementing public investment projects.

One of the consultants of the Eastern Nile CRA study Professor Elfatih A. B. Eltahir, from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, discussed that the African region in general and Eastern Nile sub region in par-ticular still stands out as the most vulnerable area. He further indicated that threat of climate change is real, and Eastern Nile countries together with the other Af-rican countries are expected to be hit hardest due to the current high vulnerability and low coping capac-ity levels. In the same way Maha Abdel Gaffar (PhD), resource person of the CRA workshop, presented that the limited adaptive capacity of Eastern Nile countries to climate change has been noted as key factor in the sub basin’s high vulnerability to climate change. Azeb Mersha, Water Resources Modeler at ENTRO, presented the importance of analytical tools for effective use of climate information to identify ad-aptation strategies and support adaptation planning. She argued that there has been limited use of climate information due to lack of tools to integrate Climate into the Eastern Nile Context. Beakal Gobena pre-sented ENTRO’s Web Portal. He pointed out that EN-TRO has generated substantial amount of datasets, information and knowledge resources has been gen-erated related to socio-economic and environmental and water resource, etc.On Eastern Nile. According to him through the webportal ENTRO is attempting

to effectively share the wealth of knowledge gener-ated to its stakeholders in a unified format. Present-ers of case studies similarly argued that there is an urgent need to strengthen the adaptive capacities of all stakeholders in Eastern Nile including research-ers, policy makers, community groups, etc in order to collectively develop strategies for reducing vulner-ability to the adverse impacts of climate change, and to seize the opportunities that climate change may present.

The workshop provided the participants with a com-prehensive two-day training on climate risk assess-ment approaches, climate data utilization for impact and vulnerability assessment and technical analysis in adaptation assessment and planning. Case stud-ies on CRA projects in Ethiopia, South Sudan and Sudan were also presented to illustrate the chal-lenges that climate change presents to specific countries, how these risks have been addressed in practice and lessons learned. The workshop also provided an opportunity for the participants to share their experiences in addressing climate risks in de-velopment planning and investment projects.

The Climate Risk Assessment (CRA) study aims to develop and operationalize an analytical framework for integrating climate risks into the process of in-vestment planning and management of the EN water resources. Such analytical framework for CRA could be used to guide water related investment in the EN and form the basis for climate screening for invest-ment project and provide guidance to the develop-ment of climate smart strategies. The work shop is aimed at building the capacity of the EN national & regional institutions on the topics the proposed analytical framework for climate risk assessment and means for integrating adaptation and mitiga-tion measures as part of the planning process, as well as on approaches to climate risk management in Water-Resources Investment Planning in the Nile Basin planning and investment projects.

The workshop was conducted as part of the consultancy service provided by the climate risk analysis consultant.


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News and Events

ENTRO Staff Training Week 12th - 17th of December 2014 Bahir Dar Ethiopia

ENTRO organized the 2014’s Staff Training Week in Bahir Dar. The aim of the training was staff capacity building.

Seminars, individual, regional coordinators and management meetings, visits to watershed man-agement sites are organized on the Staff Training Week. Among others some of the topics presented were monitoring and evaluation, procurement and ENWSM Knowledge Exchange Visit to the Loess Plateau, China.

Participants of the Week have the option to visit sites such as Lake Tana, Blue Nile Falls, Palaces and Castles of Gondar.


Eastern Nile Council of Ministers (ENCOM) held 28th meeting February 12, 2015, Bishoftu, Ethiopia

The 28th meeting of the Eastern Nile Council of Min-isters (ENCOM), the governing body of the Eastern Nile Subsidiary Action Program (ENSAP) of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), discussed issues in the basin, such as cooperation, Ethiopia-Sudan transmission interconnection projects, the Eastern Nile water-shed management project, the need to bring back Egypt to EN Cooperation,. Furthermore they con-fer Nile water use as a tool for regional integration and a support for socioeconomic development. The meeting was conducted following the two-day 29th Meeting of the Eastern Nile Subsidiary Action Pro-gram Team (ENSAPT).

The meeting was attended by representatives from Ethiopia, Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan. In their speech H. E. Mutaz Musa Abdalla, the outgoing chair of ENCOM , H.E. Alemayehu Tegenu, the incom-ing chair, and Engineer Isaac Liabwel, representing H.E Jemma Nunu Kumba, made a speech emphasizing that still there remains work to be done to address the chal-lenges facing the Eastern Nile cooperation specifically bringing back Egypt to the cooperation dais.

The Ministers examined the report submitted by 29th ENSAPT and approved it. The Eastern Nile Council of Ministers meeting concluded passing a decision to make a onetime contribution of USD 454,000 to ENTRO over and above the annual country contributions.


Of Interest: THE IPCC´s FIFTH ASSESSMENT REPORT (AR5) The IPCC has released its Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). This follows the overall mandate of the IPCC, the main activity of which is to prepare comprehen-sive assessment reports about climate change at reg-ular intervals, typically of about five to seven years.

The IPCC’s First Assessment Report (FAR) in 1990 played a decisive role in leading to the United Na-tions Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which was opened for signature at the Rio de Janeiro Summit in 1992. The Second Assess-ment Report (SAR) of 1995 provided key input for the negotiations of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. The Third Assessment Report (TAR) of 2001 provided fur-ther information relevant to the development of the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol. The Fourth As-sessment Report (AR4) paid greater attention to the integration of climate change with sustainable devel-opment policies and the relationships between miti-gation and adaptation, and led to a wider awareness of climate change issues in the general public and among decision-makers.

The Fifth Assessment, which was finalized in 2014, is made up of four reports: the three IPCC Working Groups’ contributions dealing respectively with “The Physical Science Basis”, “Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability”, and “Mitigation of Climate Change”, and the Synthesis Report (SYR). Each report con-tains its own Summary for Policymakers (SPM) which is approved line by line by all member coun-tries of the IPCC and represents a formally agreed statement on key findings and uncertainties.

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Concepts that MatterIntroductionEastern Nile sub-basins harbor and are havens for a range of biodiversity assets of regional and global significance. Needless to say, ENSAP (the Eastern Nile Subsidiary Action Program) is about promot-ing cooperative water resources development i.e. investment in the subbasin. Investment to ensure reliable supply of clean energy (hydropower) to fuel economic growth; investment to ensure adequate supply of food for a growing population; investment to provide safe drinking water to growing cities (wa-ter) is all what we are about. But then it is equally important to make sure that these provisions are not met at the cost of our long term survival. Wa-ter resources development is not cost-free. Among the environmental costs stands out the risks water resources investments pose to biodiversity and eco-system resilience. Can it be possible that we turn Eastern Nile into a meeting point, a nexus – where energy, food, water requirements- are reconciled with the long-term needs of biodiversity mainte-nance and ecosystem resilience? These are not mere rhetorical questions. These are immediate, if you like life-and-death urgent, questions for which we need to provide answers.

Biodiversity, ecosystem resilience: why worry about them?Before we proceed, however, we need to agree on what we mean by biodiversity and ecosystem resilience.

The term biodiversity refers to the multiplicity or range of living things within an ecosystem. Ecosys-tems are communities of living things that interact with each other and with the environment. The more diverse an ecosystem is the more resilient it is. That is to say, when ecosystems are resilient, they can regain their balance and restore their species diver-sity and functioning after sustaining some damage or shock.

Biodiversity could be expressed in terms of genetic diversity (genetic variability within a species such as color, morphology, or similar attributes); in terms of species diversity (the variety of different species or types i.e. types of animals, plants and microorgan-isms); and in terms of ecosystem diversity (the vari-ety of different ecosystems, such as wetland, forest, savannah grassland). Undisturbed, intact ecosys-tems are often rich in biodiversity. Ecosystems also provide important services to mankind – ranging from supply of food, construction materials to reg-

Concepts that Matter

Eastern Nile water resources development, biodiversity and ecosystem resilience: A nexus concept?

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ulating the hydrology of river systems, evening out extremes of flood and drought (an aspect that will be all the more relevant as Climate Change impacts become eminent). The Sudd wetlands, the Machar marshes, the grasslands and bushes of Eastern Nile are important ecosystems. Ecosystems differ from each other in terms of the richness of plant and ani-mal and microorganism varieties they contain; their location on the globe- along latitude and altitude, their geological formation and so many other criteria.

Biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation go hand in hand. The more directly we disturb the intri-cate web and functioning of virgin ecosystems, the more they get degraded. The more they get degrad-ed the more they lose their life support capabilities. The more this happens, slowly but surely, the more we lose the unique plant and animal species – the biodiversity - characteristic of that ecosystem, until in the end we only recount the presence of those species as stories. Ecosystems have thresholds of tolerance, beyond which we damage them irrevers-ibly, beyond restoration. Even within our lifetimes, many of us in Eastern Nile have witnessed the irre-versible loss of our wetlands, forests, variety of wild life that were part of our childhood, as those places have been converted into farms and cities!

Biodiversity is not evenly distributed across the world - it varies significantly across the globe as well as within regions. Since temperature, rainfall, altitude, soils, geographical location across the lon-gitudes and latitudes, among others, determine the distribution of animals and plants on the planet; their study has been of interest to biogeography. Biodi-versity is highest in the tropics. That is, you get more animals, plants, microorganisms per square kilom-eter of land in the tropics (the tropical belt across Africa, Latin America, and Asia) than in the temper-ate zone of Europe and America, for example. That is why the year-by-year shrinking of the tropical forests of the Amazon, the Congo; Wet Africa, In-donesia, is becoming global concern. We could be losing important plant and animal species in these ecosystems even before we know and appreciate their potential medicinal, and environmental uses!! Loss of biodiversity is becoming a global crisis. This discussion takes us to the concept of biodiversity hotspots. Hotspots are regions with high level of en-demic species (i.e. plants and animals found only in a

specific geographical area and nowhere else) under threat from humans. Hotspots are spread around the world. But the majority of hotspots are forest areas located in the tropics. Eastern Nile wetlands, savannah grasslands and the remaining patches of forests contain biodiversity hotspots which have made them of growing interest to conservationists.

The loss of important ecosystems and biodiversity hotspots is caused by habitat destruction. A habitat simply put is a place where animals and plants live without threat, pretty much like you feel safe and comfortable in your house. Ecosystems are impor-tant habitats. The destruction of habitats –such as wanton destruction of tropical forests, the pollution of important water ways, the contamination of soil – and now increasingly negative processes caused by global warming – such as the acidification of the oceans and destruction of coral reefs – are leading to the extinction of important terrestrial (land) and aquatic (water) species. Habitats for larger species such as elephants, giraffes, etc., found exclusively in the tropics are sensitive to ecosystem degrada-tion and thus prone to irreversible loss. The caus-es for habitat loss are many – but mainly it is land conversion for mono-crop farming (e.g. commercial plantations such as for rice, sugar cane, palm oil tree, etc.), urbanization, road building, and ranch-ing, etc. which leaves behind, instead of the original abundance of variety of species, only limited or few dominant species that can thrive in more adverse circumstances. That is why invasive weeds are dominating such areas.

According to the Nile Information System, a web-based Nile Basin Initiative platform, Conservation International has identified portions of the Nile ba-sin as a biodiversity hotspot, known as the Eastern Afromontane hotspot. Numerous wetlands within Nile riparian countries have been included on the List of Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention.


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Sustaining biodiversity – the role of Eastern Nile National Parks

By way of illustration, we introduce here two impor-tant, in a way contiguous, wildlife habitats the Boma (in South Sudan) and Gambella (in Ethiopia) Nation-al Parks. These National parks are home to unique bird, mammalian and reptile species that we should strive to conserve as we plan to develop Eastern Nile water resources. Preservation of biodiversity, main-taining ecosystem integrity and investing in water resources development and livelihood improvement should not be posed as mutually exclusive “either or” options, but as complementary approaches of ensuring sustainability of natural resources!

The 4-year, European Development Fund financed, Biodiversity Management Programme in the Horn of Africa, recently commissioned by the Intergov-ernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to be implemented in Gambella region of Ethiopia by HoA-REC&N (Horn of Africa Regional Environment Centre and Network) in partnership with national and regional conservation organizations is an initia-tive we all in the water sector should support and work with.

The Boma-Gambella Wildlife sancturary belt

The Boma-Gambella landscape stretches across the South Sudan-Ethiopia border. Considerable populations of antelopes, as well as wild buffalo, elephants, lions, giraffe, other mammals, and ex-traordinary bird species and amphibians are hosted in these habitats. The forest reserves host habitats for the bongo antelope, various hog species, for-est elephants, chimpanzees, and forest monkeys. South Sudan shares with Ethiopia the second larg-est terrestrial mammal migration in Africa, whereby an estimated 1.3 million White-eared kobo antelope make the journey across the southeast of South

Sudan into neighboring Ethiopia. This extraordinary passage is often likened to the great migrations of wildlife across the Serengeti. The magnificent biodi-versity of South Sudan is a precious national asset, but one that is under threat largely from the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation. And like the rest of the Horn of Africa, the popula-tion of South Sudan is highly vulnerable to changing climate patterns with a limited capacity to maintain sustainable livelihoods

South Sudan is witnessing the drying up of per-manent rivers resulting in loss of fish species and a decrease in fish size, an important food source for local communities. Water and wind erosion, as well as wildfire, have led to increased soil degrada-tion. Deforestation is a growing issue, as is illegal wildlife exploitation. Increasing land privatization is also an issue requiring consideration, and mineral exploitation is occurring, especially oil exploration in the wetland areas. On top of these trends, the population of South Sudan is growing, putting natu-ral resources under ever increasing pressure. The governance framework for environmental manage-ment is at its infancy – in the institutional, financial and technical capacity senses.

The Boma and Gambella National Parks on the South Sudan and Ethiopian border respectively are two halves of the same landscape. If managed well, this area presents significant opportunity for sus-tainable development that could bring economic gains to South Sudan and Ethiopia, whilst protect-ing the countries’ natural endowments.

Boma National Park (some 4,000,000 ha; 400-1800 masl) and the adjacent Boma hills are located in the south-east of South Sudan close to the Ethiopian border, south-east of the town of Pibor Post. It lies between the rivers Kangen to the west and Oboth in the north-east and from the Kurun River and the pro-vincial boundary in the south to the Guom swamps in the north. Two-thirds of the park is flat flood-plain, punctuated by a number of isolated hills, rising to undulating terrain in the east to reach the Boma pla-teau at c.1,100 m. In the south-east the Boma hills

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rise above the plateau and are drained eastwards into the Oboth and Akobo rivers and thence, even-tually, into the Guom swamps. The western part of the park drains into the Kangen River. The western plains support open grassland of a variety of spe-cies while the eastern parts are covered with wood-land. In patches around the isolated hills are areas of dense thicket dominated variously by Ziziphus spp., Acacia seyal, A. zanzibarica, A. drepanalobium and A. fistula, while there are small areas of evergreen forest on the western slopes of the Boma hills. The site is located a little way south of Gambella Na-tional Park in Ethiopia. Key biodiversity includes a variety of bird species characteristic of the Sudan–Guinea Savanna biome, some four of them unique to the area. Non-bird biodiversity include: up to one million Kobus kob leucotis (whit-eared kob) that mi-grate through the park annually. There are also other mammals of global conservation interest reside.

The Gambela Natinal Park (577,411ha; 1020 mm; 407-580masl) of Southwestern Ethiopia (Gambella Regional State) was established in 1973 primarily to protect two species of endangered wetland an-telopes: the White-eared Kob and the Nile Lech-we unique to the habitats. Other wildlife include populations of elephant, African Buffalo, lion, roan antelope, tiang, Lelwel Hartebeest, olive baboon, and guereza monkey. Several birds only found in this area include the shoebill stork, the Long-tailed Paradise Whydah and the Red-throated and Green Bee-eaters. The general landscape is flat but there are also areas of raised ground that support decidu-ous woodlands and grasslands. There are exten-sive seasonally and permanently inundated grass-lands forming valuable wetlands. Grass species can reach 2-3 meters in height. Other important habi-tats include the river edges and their cut-off lakes. Gambella teems with a wide variety of wildlife – the most common are Buffalo, Giraffe,Taing (Topi), Wa-terbuck, Roan Antelope, White-eared Kob, Nile Lechwe, Burchell’s Zebra, Bushbuck, Reedbuck, Warthog and Elephant. The rivers host healthy pop-ulations of Hippopotamus and Nile Crocodiles. The park has at least 300 bird species of which 11 are Sudan-Guinea Biome species. Nile perch weighing up to 100 kg have been caught from the Baro River. The Gambella Park is IUCN Category II. The park

contains 75 endemic animal species (56 mammals; 17 amphibians; 2 birds) of which some 20 are un-der various categories of threats (2 endangered, 4 vulnerable, 14 near threatened i.e. are conservation dependent for continued existence)

The Gambella National park, like its twin, the Boma, on the South Sudanese side, is threatened by de-velopment – particularly the development of ex-tensive commercial agriculture and encroachment. As discussed above, conserving these critical habitats- maintaining their ecosystem integrity and healthy functioning and sustaining biodiversity – is smart not only in the conservation sense, but also in the economic sense too. Sustainable eco-tourism of well managed parks that cross boundaries – so called peace parks – such as the one between Peru and Ecuador for example, is a big money maker, able to support local communities, sometimes in a significantly better way than what they would get by mining the resources themselves.

To conclude: Conserving and as needed preserving Eastern Nile biodiversity and ecosystems should be part and parcel of good water resources develop-ment. It is smart. It is sustainable. It is responsible.

By Wubalem Fekade, Ph.D, Head, Social Development and Communication and Akewak Yadeta, communication expert


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Conversations

Q. Please tell us a little about yourself

My name is Fekahmed Negash Nuru. I was born and grew up in a small village, Daletti, at the outskirt of Western Addis Ababa. I went to Medresetal Dal-etti primary school in my village and joined Sebetta Comprehensive Secondary High School, in Sebetta town. After completing my secondary education, I was admitted to Haromaya University, then Alemaya College of Agriculture under Addis Ababa University and which was latter elevated to Alemaya University of Agriculture, located about 515km in Eastern Ethi-opia. Here I received my first degree in Agriculture. This period also marked my first long trip away from my locality.

After working for six years in a Government Organi-zation, I went on a scholarship to UK to study for my second degree at Cranfield University, Silsoe Col-lege where I did my Masters in Land and Water Re-sources Management.

Currently I am living in the same locality where I grew up, about 22km from central Addis. I am married. I have interest in social activities among the com-munity in my locality. I spend part of my free time, whenever I get some, reading, and doing sports - running, biking, and sometimes volleyball and foot ball playing. For the last three years I have attended the annual Great Ethiopian Run in Addis Ababa in 10, 000-meter and 7 000-meter events. I am not a great athlete but I still can cross the lines in 55 min-utes and 38 minutes respectively.

I follow news and other current affairs as frequently as I can. I feel lost when I am not in a position to get access to information. I like engage in discus-sion and debate on a number of issues I believe in. I value honesty, transparency and punctuality. The contrary is also true.

Q. Where did you start work? How long have you been in the water sector? How did you get into the water sector since your background is in agriculture?

After obtaining my first degree in Haromaya Univer-sity, I was assigned to work as a Junior Agricultur-al Specialist in the Ethiopian Valleys Development Studies Authority, which was mandated to under-take the preparation of River Basin Integrated De-velopment Master Plans and other studies and also design of irrigation, hydropower and water supply projects. The River Basin Master Plans incorporate

all natural, social, economic, and environmental is-sues in an integrated manner and this period marked my transition to the water sector.

Q. In what capacities and responsibilities did you work?

After coming back from UK, I joined the then Minis-try of Water Resources, currently the Ministry of Wa-ter, Irrigation and Energy where I worked in various capacities till end of July 2014. My work experience and career have all been one way or the other, within the water sector. I started my career as a junior ag-ricultural specialist in the Ethiopian Valleys Develop-ment Studies Authority and then progressively rose to a level of specialist, senior specialist, team leader, project coordinator, department head and Director.

During my tenure as Specialist and then as Head of the Master Plan Preparation Studies and imple-mentation supervision department and as Director for the Basin Administration Directorate, I had the opportunity to work in and administer almost all ba-sins of Ethiopia. As Coordinator of the Institutional Setup Studies of the Ethiopian Nile (Abbay) Basin project, I participated in the studies and design of the institutional arrangement for Basin Management in the Ethiopian water sector which has led to the establishment and operationalization of three Basin Authorities so far, and to the design of five more, a work in progress. Through the implementation of the Tana & Beles Integrated Water Resources Develop-ment Project, where I served as Coordinator for over five years, it was possible to practically apply the principles of IWRM on the ground, and to pilot three strategic initiatives of the Government of Ethiopia i.e. the Growth Corridor, the Basin Management and Water Sector related Watershed Management on the ground.

“Conversations” is a section dedicated to featuring ENTRO professionals – who they are, what they do and theirthoughts on how their work contributes to Eastern Nile Cooperation!

This Issue features incoming Executive Director of ENTRO Fekahmed Negash

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Conversations

Q. How did you get involved in transboundary wa-ters? How did you get “into” the Nile?

Most basins of Ethiopia are transboundary in na-ture. My involvements in the administration of these Ethiopian basins, including those that flow into the Nile are part of my connection to the management of Transboundary Rivers. My assignment as a Direc-tor for Boundary and Transboundary Rivers Affairs Directorate in the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy facilitated my full involvement in this issue.

Q. How does transboundary water resources man-agement differ from national one? What are the unique attributes?

Compared to the management of national basins, transboundary water resources management is much more complex. Management of national ba-sins (planning, development and administration) deals with water resources within the national ter-ritorial jurisdictions in accordance with the policies, strategies, laws and priority of the country and the federal states (National States). Transboundary Wa-ter Resources Management, on the other hand, is about managing water resources across the territory of more than one sovereign state with varying laws, institutions, policies, regulations and often conflict-ing interests and priorities which requires reconcil-ing differences, policies, laws and institutions for the common benefit of the population of the basin. The spatial domain for national basins is a smaller hy-drologic unit compared to basin-wide transbound-ary water resources planning and management.

The relationship among countries sharing a common transboundary water resources is, in most cases, much more complex not only in the hydrologic sense but also in the social and political sense, colored by legacies of history, geography, geo-politics, culture, etc. No wonder these relationships are often charac-terized by mistrust and often conflict. Lack of trans-parency and absence of exchange of hydro-meteor-ological data and information is common.

It is often the case that national water resources de-velopment on Transboundary Rivers invokes anxiety and worry in the other riparian countries and when concern is mismanaged, it can lead to unnecessary confrontation and bitterness. But as the history of transboundary waters clearly demonstrates, coun-tries ultimately choose to cooperate, initial uncer-tainties even hostilities notwithstanding. Even coun-tries that are otherwise in war footing or in armed hostilities opt for dialogue and build common institu-tions to manage their shared waters (India-Pakistan, Israel-Jordan, etc.), To me the keys to lasting trans-boundary cooperation are: 1. transparent, if you like demonstrable, honesty and earnestness; genuine concern for the plight and concerns and needs of the other 2. Being very rational, fact based, disci-

plined and willing to bend to the dictates of good science. The latter requires riparian countries to en-gage in honest discussion, not least with their own citizens [for example about the state of the shared resource; about trends in water demand, utilization and availability] and to set the right expectations. When these conditions are met, it almost automati-cally follows that huge opportunities for cooperative development; for efficiency; for broader coopera-tion and win-win outcomes arise. It then becomes clear that the cost of non-cooperation is much higher than cooperation, for competitive, irrational management-development can only lead to waste-ful utilization of an increasingly scarce and valuable resource – water!.

Q. How did you get interested in the position of ENTRO ED? Did you have any working relationship with ENSAP/ENTRO/NBI?

I was first involved in NBI/ENSAP when I was sum-moned as a backup technical expert to identify IDEN projects for Ethiopia. This was followed by member-ship of Working Group for Eastern Nile Watershed Management Project (ENSAP), Task Force for Project Planning and Management Component of WRPMP (SVP), Steering Committee Chair for WRPMP (SVP), Steering Committee member for Eastern Nile Irriga-tion and Drainage Project (ENSAP), Technical Com-mittee member for Joint Multipurpose Project (EN-

TRO). I also served as member of Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of NBI, Eastern Nile Subsidiary Action Program Team (ENSAPT) and Nile Equato-rial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program Technical Ad-visory Committee (NELTAC) for Ethiopia. It is these engagements and experiences that elucidated and implanted in me the critical importance of coopera-tion in the sustainable management of transbound-ary waters for the benefit of the people, the river, good neighborliness, peace and security.

As member of governance of the three NBI cent-ers, I came to understand that the contribution of

The relationship among countries sharing a common transboundary water resources is, in most cases, much more complex not only in the hydrologic sense but also in the social and political sense, colored by legacies of history, geography, geo-politics, culture, etc.

“

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the presence of strong, transparent and trusted in-stitution with full sense of ownership by the coun-tries to the cooperation process is unparalleled. The sensitivity and complexity of transboundary water management in the Nile Basin in general and that of Eastern Nile in particular makes the issue full of challenges that requires a cautious approach. Prop-erly handled, there are ample opportunities within the sub-basin that can lead to everlasting coopera-tion, prosperity and peace and security.

The historical relationship between the countries of the Eastern Nile was full of mistrust and con-flicting interest. Well established perceptions and assertions complicate the already fragile coopera-tive sprites between the countries. The absence of an agreed upon institutional and legal framework among the countries of the Eastern Nile is additional challenge to the management of the transboundary water resources.

Q. What is your management philosophy? What do you expect from your staff? What do you want your staff to expect from you?

My management philosophy is to create a conveni-ent and amicable working environment for the staff of ENTRO and appropriate forum for the Govern-ance so as to enable the institution deliver results that can meet the expectation of the countries. This can be achieved through transparency, empower-ment and delegation, creation of sense of urgency and ownership, encouragement and rewarding, pa-tience and accommodativeness.

Q. Now that you have been a few months in your position, how was the warm up? How do you find the place and your colleagues?

Since my arrival the ENTRO colleagues have been doing their best to familiarize me with the system. I found all staff very supportive and enthusiastic to the new management team. The presence of such highly experienced and competent staff is the big-gest asset of the institution. With full support from the senior management team and creation of favora-ble working conditions, the staff has the capacity to deliver the required results.

Looking ahead, what are your hopes? What do you expect to achieve during your tenure? When, after

three years, you look back, and you “say I left the place, the institution in a better shape than I got it”.. What are your yardsticks to make such an evaluation?

I will be serving ENTRO over a period of three years. I started my assignment as ENTRO was emerg-ing from a four-year of governance vacuum; when its performance has-been severely affected by this and other challenges posed by the non participa-tion of some member states. Currently ENTRO is facing financial difficulty due to the closing of NBTF, the main source of finance for funding projects and programs. At the end of my tenure, I wish to see a vibrant, competent and trusted ENTRO, that is financially sustainable and that is delivering results i.e. sound, cooperative, bankable investment pro-jects that cumulatively contribute significantly to lift-ing the Eastern Nile basin population out of poverty, while protecting and ensuring the sustainability of the river, associated ecosystems and biodiversity hotspots and assets.

Thank you for your time. Let me wish you the best and productive years of your tenure!

By Wubalem Fekade, Hd. SDCU.

News and Events

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ENTRO pays tribute to departing staff

ENTRO hosted a fare-well party in honor of the departing Senior Operations Officer, Salah Shazali (Phd) and senior water re-sources planner, Yosif Ibrahim (PhD).

Dr. Salah Shazali has been one of the long-est serving ENTRO staff. He established the Social Develop-ment Office, eventual-ly moved to Entebe up on placement by UN-

OPS in Nile Sec as Confidence Building and Stake-holder Involvement (CBSI) project lead specialist. When the CBSI closed, Dr Salah returned to ENTRO and served as Institutional Strengthening Project coordinator, senior operation Officer, and strategic planner until December, 2014 when he resigned.

Dr. Yosif Ibrahim was appointed head of water re-sources planning unit in October, 2009 and subse-quently served as Officer in Charge (OIC). Dr Yosif has played key role in establishing the water re-sources planning unit and various projects including the internship program.

Both Drs Salah and Yosif will be greatly missed. They have left lasting mark in ENTRO through their dedica-tion and contribution to EN Cooperation.

Nile-flow, in its forth-coming edition will fea-ture them in “Conver-sations” column.

By Wubalem Fekade, Ph.D, Head, Social Development and Communication and Akewak Yadeta, communication expert

Staff News

Salah Shazali (Phd)

Yosif Ibrahim (PhD)

Did you know?Water footprint – The water footprint is an indicator of fresh-water use that looks at both direct and indirect water use of a consumer or producer.

The Water Footprint of a product is the volume of fresh-water appropriated to produce the product, taking into ac-count the volumes of water consumed and polluted in the different steps of the supply chain.

It costs about 21,000 liters of water to produce 1 kg of roasted coffee. For a standard cup of coffee we require 7 gram of roasted coffee, so that a cup of coffee costs 140 liters of water.

Source: Hoekstra, A.Y., Chapagain, A.K., Aldaya, M.M. and Mekonnen, M.M. (2011) The water footprint assessment manual: Setting the global standard, Earthscan, London, UK. Pages 3, 187, 189,


In order to get 1 kg of final cotton textile, one requires 11,000 liters of water (as a global average). Thus when we have a shirt with a weight of 250 gram, this shirt costs 2700 liters

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IN MEMORIAM

ENTRO remembers, Mr Tesfaye Gudeta, who sud-denly separated from ENTRO on October 27, 2014.

Mr Tesfaye Gudeta Rorro was born on August 16, 1954 in Wollega, Oromia Regional National State, FDRE.

He obtained his Diploma in Accounting, 1986, As-mara University; graduated with BA in Accounting in 1997, Addis Ababa University; and graduated with MBA in Finance from Sikkim Manipal University in December 2010.

After graduating with Diploma in Accounting, he joined Kaliti Metal Factory in Addis Ababa as Ac-counting Clerk. He progressed to Junior Cost Ac-countant and thence to Junior Accountant level. In December 1993, he joined the then Ministry of Fi-nance, Credit & Investment Department as a Senior Expert, on-lending. In May 1995 he joined Dinsho Private Limited Company as Head of Finance De-partment.

Mr Tesfaye was one of the significant figures in the history or Micro Finance industry in Ethiopia. In Sep-tember 1995 he joined Oromia Rural Credit and Sav-ing scheme Development Project as a Financial & Credit Officer. During his stay with the project, he worked on legal requirements, policy, and other is-sues which culminated in the establishment of Oro-mia Credit & Saving Share Company. He then pre-pared the financial manual & training manual, and developed organizational structure. In August 1997 he became the Finance Department Head of the new Company. In February 2000 he joined Catholic Relief Services, Ethiopia Program where he contin-ued working on handling preparatory work for the formation of another Micro Finance Institution. He also prepared a training Manual on Micro Finance evolution, development, methodologies, and Impact Assessment. In April 2001, he become the General Manager of Gasha Micro-Financing Share

Company and worked till February 28, 2002 provid-ing leadership to the Company.

He then went to the consultancy sector. He worked as an Associate Consultant with ITAB Consult PLC from March 1 to September 30, 2002. He then worked as freelance consultant till March 2003, the day he joined the Ethiopian Civil Service College as

a Projects Finance Officer.

In August 11, 2005, Mr Tesfaye joined ENTRO as short term consultant in the Fi-nance Office. He was given the post of Fi-nancial Assistant on November 11, 2005. On October 1, 2008, he was promoted to Finance Officer Posi-tion where he worked to the final day in ENTRO and in this world.

In his work Mr Tes-faye was profes-sional, honest, com-mitted and friendly. In his social life, Mr Tesfaye was so hu-morous with infinite Knowledge of Ethio-pian culture, say-ings, stories, and dances too. Events and tea breaks at ENTRO were colorful when Mr Tesfaye was around.

Mr Tesfaye passed away unexpect-edly in the evening of October 27, 2014 in his house. ENTRO prays to God for him to take care and pro-tect him and remem-ber all the beautiful experiences we had next to TG, as we used to call him.

Mr Tesfaye is survived by his wife and five children, three girls and two boys.

By Tesfaye Teferi (FCCA, ACMA), Regional Finance and administration head

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TheWaterChannel.tv

www.thewaterchannel.tv is an online video channel on water. The channel makes a wide range of video material available for a large public to create aware-ness and encourage de-bate. The website contains videos ranging from instructional videos to Public Service Announcements from various sources. The footage is presented in different categories, includ-ing climate change, agriculture and sanitation & hy-giene, among others. The website caters to a large audience, including educators, policy makers, high-school and university students, media professionals, companies and organizations with an interest or ac-tive involvement in water issues. Source: www.thewaterchannel.tv

Circle of Blue

Circle of Blue is an international network of leading journalists, scientists and communications design experts that reports and presents the information necessary to respond to the global freshwater crisis. It is a non-profit affiliate of the Pacific Institute. Circle of Blue reports and collects information and data, and presents it in coherent, accessible and connect-ed forms. The website provides a highly visible fo-rum for response, and through communications de-sign, extends awareness into action. Circle of Blue’s provides a hub for data visualization, aggregation, and integration. Source: www.circleofblue.orgCompiled by Akewak Yadeta, communication expert

Highlight Online Water ResourcesThe internet has become an increasingly important source of information. A diverse range of online re-sources on water, infrastructure and the environment can provide useful tools for water professionals and others interested in water-related teaching materials, scientific research findings, the sharing of best (and worst) practices from the field, and much more. In this issue of Nile-Flow News letter we would like to share two online resources with you. Send an email to the editor at [email protected] if you wish to share any of the websites, blogs, twitter streams, networks or communities with our readers.

SHOEBILL(Balaeniceps rex)These large stork-like birds inhabit the East-ern Nile’s swamps and marshes. Shoebills particularly like poorly oxygenated shallow water. According to BirdLife International Showbills is classified as Vulnerable with the main threats being habitat destruction, dis-turbance and hunting. The shoebill is non-migratory with limited seasonal movements due to habitat changes, food availability and disturbance by humans. Steps are be-ing taken in South Sudan to understand the population better and improve the status of protected areas.

For more information on the shoebill (Bal-aeniceps rex) and conservation efforts, please visit (http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/spe-ciesfactsheet.php?id=3808 and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoebill)


Eastern Nile Environment at a glance

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ENTRO Vision:

A credible EN institution fostering sustainable

transboundary cooperative water resource management

and development and promoting regional

integration.

Mission:

We work for the shared ben-efits of cooperation

ENTRO’s HeadquarterAddis Ababa –Ethiopia

Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office

Dessie RoadP.O.Box 27173-1000

Tel: +251 116 46 1130/32Fax: +251 116 45 94 07

Email: [email protected]://ensap.nilebasin.org

ENTRO Core Values Are RIGHT:

Regional Orientation, Focus on People & Environment

We are committed to regional cooperation in all our activities and relationships among ourselves and with our partners. We are committed to work for the ben-efit of the people and the environment of the EN countries.

Initiative, Dynamism and Creativity

As a team and as individuals, we take initiative and embrace new ideas for the enhancement of both our performance and our working environment. We strivefor creativity to set the example and pace for others.

Gender Balance, Equity and Respect Diversity

In all our work and interactions, we give equal opportunities for both genders and seek gender balance. We also do not discriminate any individuals because of their beliefs or physical appearance. We emphasize mutual respect for indi-viduals, recognition of their contributions, and their rights to equity in benefit sharing.

Honesty, Excellence and Professionalism

We perform all our duties in a spirit of trust, transparency and honesty.We are committed to excellence and professionalism in all our work.We do not compromise on quality and accountability.

Teamwork, Participation and Partnership

We choose to work in teams with our colleagues at ENTRO and with ENTRO’s owners and partners. We also seek to expand and intensify participation of non-governmental stakeholders, particularly from EN civil society and private sector. We believe through participation and partnership we would achieve synergies otherwise lost. We hold ourselves individually and collectively accountable in achieving our commonly shared objectives

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily represent those of NBI, its Member States, or Development Partners

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