The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) is a partnership of the 10 Nile Basin riparian states with a shared vision objective to promote sustainable socio-economic development through the equitable utilization of and benefit from the shared Nile Basin water resources. Nile Basin countries face increasing challenges of meeting the requirements of their rapidly growing populations in the face of dwindling resources that are threatened by emerging pressures like climate change, land use change and degradation, urbanization, etc. The challenges result in increased efforts at utilization of the Nile waters for agricultural, domestic, industrial and environmental purposes. Countries are embarking on large-scale developments for water utilization and water-related use in riparian countries which have major implications for current and future availability of water resources.
The assignment took the basin perspective and looked at the transboundary governance mechanisms in place. Especially national level arrangements such as policies and Transboundary Water Management (TWM) units served the various transboundary mechanisms a country subscribes to at the same time.
The objective was to facilitate and document a joint review and learning process on provisions for transboundary cooperation in national policies and related institutional arrangements.
The primary work of the project consisted of the following tasks:

• Task 1: Finalization of the NBI Policy Handbook
• Task 2: Guidance Document on key TWM principles for national water policies
• Task 3: Review of experience and mapping of cross-border cooperation arrangements

in Nile Basin

• Task 4: Review of experience of the national level organizational arrangements for TWM
• Task 5: Collaborative assessment of progress of implementation of TWM principles in

National Water Policies

• Task 6: Action plan for transboundary water policy at national and regional level
• Task 7: Policy Synthesis Report – Status of TWM governance and Implementation of

SDG 6.5.2. in the Nile Basin

• Task 8: Blended Learning Module
• Prepare and facilitate Policy Roundtables