Addis Ababa — Some 400 organisations from across the world have signed a petition against the construction of Ethiopia’s multi-billion dollar Gibe III Dam project, Survival International has told Sudan Tribune.

In an e-mail exchange Sarah Shenker, researcher at Survival International, said that the petition had been delivered to Ethiopian embassies across Europe and the United States on World Water Day.

“We have delivered the petition on 22 March, to Ethiopian embassies or representatives in France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the UK and the USA,” she said on Wednesday.

Survival International says construction of the dam will devastate the fragile ecosystem of the area by altering the seasonal flooding of the Omo River and reducing its downstream volume, resulting in the drying out of the land endangering the lives of 500,000 people along the lower Omo Valley and Kenya’s Lake Turkana.

For these reasons, the group strongly argues construction of the dam must be halted and funds must stop

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