With two dedicated sessions and a number of mentions throughout other presentations, the Nile Basin took the center stage during the conference, with a strong focus on the representations and framing of the Nile and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in the media and political rhetoric.

Egypt, which lies in north-eastern Africa and extends into the Sinai Peninsula in Asia, covers a total area of 1 million square kilometres (km²). It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip, Israel and the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west.

About 98% of Egypt’s fresh water resources originate outside of its borders, such as the Nile River and groundwater aquifers. Indeed, the Nile River provides the country with some 93% of its water requirements

Water use in Egypt is growing due to a rising population and improving standard of living as well as the government policy of encouraging industrialization and the expansion of the agriculture sector.

Egypt faces significant challenges to water resource development and use, the solution to which requires the mobilization of other natural resources, such as land and energy, and integrated management

There is significant conflict over access and rights to Nile water resources among the 11 riparian countries of the Nile Basin.

Water in Egypt is vulnerable to three main risk factors: High pollution and increasing water costs as a result of pumping water over and over again and without treatment.

Transboundary water management in the Jordan River basin and the Blue Nile basin has historically been difficult. While water diplomacy surrounding the Jordan River is obstructed by decades of geopolitical conflicts between the riparians and unilateral infrastructure projects, cooperation over the Blue Nile has been hampered by conflicting views on water ownership and resource utilization for most of the 20th and 21st century.

Despite its abundant and diverse water resources, Sudan is classified as a water-stressed country. The erratic rainfall, floods, siltation, riverbank erosion and pollution hinder the development of the water resources.

Sudan’s main water resources are surface water, including rainfall, rivers, seasonal wadis and khors, lakes and wetlands. Groundwater is also widely used, in addition to wastewater reuse and desalination as non-conventional resources.