CAIRO — The EveryDay Nile Photo Exhibition proposes video clips that shed light on the other side of the lives of Nile residents, in an attempt to dive into their dreams and problems amid media reports and studies in which international water wars could start from the Nile River as governments of the riparian countries quarrel over additional water shares that are currently at stake due to both pollution and climate change.

In 2019, a set of discussions and meetings kicked off between a group of photographers, researchers and journalists across the Nile Basin countries. The meetings were held so as to start cooperation toward monitoring the stories of the residents on the banks of the Nile who rely on the river’s water for drinking, irrigation, fish wealth and energy generation purposes. The meetings were held within the framework of an initiative aimed at converging the views of the Nile residents and teaching them about the nature of life as well as the problems and challenges every country's residents face away from the stereotypes they tend to hold about each other.

On the sidelines of an art exhibition that ran June 15-20 and was held as part of the initiative in Cairo, Roger Anis, artistic director of the EveryDay Nile initiative, told Al-Monitor, “The stories chronicle the lives of the Nile residents, some of whom face arid drought while others face flooding that drowns crops and takes lives.”

He added, “Our goal for four years has been to draw a visual and informational map of the societies of the Nile Basin countries to break the prevailing stereotypes, complete the incomplete stories and get to know each other.”