Funded by the GEF, UNDP is supporting a dozen African freshwater basins toward effecting policy reforms for governance and transitioning to needed investments. This will be done by supporting (i) the adoption and national ownership of a number of transboundary waterpartnerships, (ii) the shift to systems thinking approaches by including groundwater, lakesand climate change considerations in shared basin planning and management, (iii) the strengthening of investment planning processes, and (iv) exchanges of GEF project experiences that can inform global policy dialogues such as the World Water Forum (WWF) in 2009. At the broader development level, this medium sized project (MSP) is expected to contribute to the achievement of MDGs and of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation in relation to Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) and stimulate needed reform in the water sector.