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MDG-7: Ensure Environmental SustainabilityMDG target 7.C: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainableaccess to safe drinking water and basic sanitationConstraint:Capacity Gaps in the Context of Trans-boundary Water CooperationLack of river basin management coordination among Nile Basin countries; capacity gaps ofwater experts in the Nile Basin regionCapacity Building and Networking of the Countries (FRIEND) in the Nile Basin aims toimprove international river basin management of the Nile through improved cooperation among theNile countries in water resource management and regional analysis of hydrological regimes. This hashelped to provide safe and clean water and has promoted sustainable regional development by securingenough water for the agriculture, industry and other sectors.Components:• Enhance capacity development and collaboration among water experts of the Nile Basincountries• Promote research cooperation among Nile Basin countries through hydrological researches onselected topics, conducted by researchers from all participating countries• Increase the number of trained personnel in the region in order to improve the sustainabilityof the present initiative and to reduce, in the longer term, the dependence on external supportagencies• Enhance networking among training institutions in the countries of the region and to improvetheir connections with similar institutions in the rest of the worldResults:• Improved institutional and human resource capacity for water resource management• Developed mutual trust, confidence and understanding among the implementing institutions inthe participating Nile Basin countries• Fostered networking, regional cooperation and the exchange of experience among water expertsand institutions in the Nile Basin countries• Enhanced knowledge and understanding of the hydrological processes of the River Nile• Enhanced methodologies and promoted relevant hydrological practical research in the Nile Basin• Enhanced south-south as well as north-south cooperation through research initiatives• Provided new tools, technologies, methodologies and software as an effective approach forenhancing the institutional and human resources capacity building for Nile Basin water resourcemanagement.Lessons Learned:• Networking among the Nile water scientists and experts is a powerful tool for enhancing andaddressing the common economic and social problems facing the Nile countries, and thus forintroducing sustainable and workable solutions to these problems.• More efforts and financial resources are needed to sustain the current efforts for enhancinghuman and institutional capacity building for water resources management in the Nile Basin.Moreover, enhancing regional cooperation and networking among Nile countries in socioeconomicfields is vital.Background Information:The River Nile has been providing life to the vast Nile Basin for hundreds of thousands of years. Intotal, ten countries make up the Nile River Basin: Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt,Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. While making up 10 percent of theland mass of Africa, these 10 countries contain 40 percent of the African population: about 300 millioninhabitants, half of whom are estimated to live in the Nile Basin. The population density in the wellirrigatedparts of the basin is more than 386 per km2. Farmers - raising beans, corn, cotton, millet, riceand wheat - form the largest group. The population is considered to be among the poorest in the world.MDG Good Practices 79