KIGALI, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Nile Basin countries need budget allocation for sustainable conservation of the Nile River to address climate change effects and for the river to meet various water demands, an official of the Nile Basin Initiative said Wednesday.
If all countries utilized the Nile waters unmindful of its conservation, it would leave long term impacts on the river, said Innocent Ntabana, executive director of the intergovernmental partnership's secretariat, in Kigali, capital city of Rwanda.
Nile Basin countries must put water at the heart of regional transformation, said Ntabana when briefing journalists about the Nile Basin Initiative's 20th anniversary due to be marked in Kigali on Feb. 22.
The partnership of 10 Nile Basin countries was established on Feb. 22, 1999, to provide a forum for consultation and coordination among Nile Basin countries for the sustainable management and development of the shared Nile Basin water and related resources for win-win benefits.
