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Egypt officially enters state of water poverty

Egypt announced that it has entered the stage of water poverty, while talks on Ethiopia’s Nile dam continue to stall.

Egyptian women line up at a water cistern (unseen) to fill their containers with clean water at al-Rahawe village, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) northeast of Cairo, Egypt, May 27, 2010.
Egyptian women line up at a water cistern (unseen) to fill their containers with clean water at al-Rahawe village, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) northeast of Cairo, Egypt, May 27, 2010. — Khaled Desouki/AFP via Getty Images

CAIRO — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has recently revealed that his country has reached the stage of water poverty with less than 500 cubic meters of water per capita a year. 

Speaking to foreign reporters on the sidelines of the World Youth Forum’s fourth edition in Sharm el-Sheikh on Jan. 13, Sisi noted that the global water level is set at 1,000 cubic meters per capita a year.

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