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Egypt forges ahead with campaign to make the Nile 100% plastic free

The VeryNile initiative has been working since 2018 to remove plastic waste from the Nile River and has launched a project to support the fishermen of Cairo by providing them with additional income and access to health services.
Volunteers riding in kayaks take part in a water-waste removal and cleanup campaign in the Nile river off the island of Manial in Egypt's capital Cairo on March 7, 2020. - Early one morning in Cairo, a flotilla of some 300 environmental determined activists paddle their kayaks across the Nile, fishing out garbage from the mighty waterway that gave birth to Egyptian civilisation but now faces multiple threats. In the past three years they say they have picked some 37 tonnes of cans, plastic bottles, disposab

CAIRO — While negotiations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) have been brought to a standstill, Cairo is channeling its efforts to preserve the waters of the Nile by supporting local initiatives, such as VeryNile to remove plastic waste from the river, the main source of fresh water in arid Egypt.

With the support of Egypt’s Ministry of Environment and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), VeryNile started its activities in 2018 under the slogan “Cleaning the Nile, one kilo at a time.” In recent weeks, the media has praised the initiative after removing tons of medical and plastic waste from the water and employing fishermen, who have been hit hard as pollution kills the fish.

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