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.
