Read the FutureDAMS working paper ‘Resettlement of Gumuz Communities around Ethiopia’s Blue Nile Dam‘.
This working paper explores the programme of resettlement of Gumuz farmers and others living at low altitude along the Nile and Beles rivers, whose home areas are expected to be flooded on completion of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and filling of a new reservoir. It focuses on problems associated with access to social services and to common resources, notably water; on land, housing, property and compensation; on livelihoods impacts and prospects; on changes in social and community articulation; and on issues of planning, budgeting and coordination of responsibility among stakeholders. These findings, which indicate strong continuities with the well documented problems of global dam-induced displacement, and resettlement in Ethiopia’s past, suggest the potential for improving policy and institutional decision making by enhancing learning from existing experiences, rooted in a nuanced understanding of local conditions. The findings are designed both to inform the period to 2022, the currently projected conclusion of the GERD construction phase, and to encourage longer-term commitment and planning, once the dam is built, that would maximise shared benefits, in terms of social and economic development, locally, among the resettled Gumuz, and nationally and regionally.
Dr Sarah Vaughan presented the preliminary conclusions from her research in the FutureDAMS webinar which you can watch below.
You can also watch the webinar on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/vD1AoU-FxEg