In the past ten years a unique network has emerged in the Nile basin to support collaborative research among Nile water professionals:The Nile Basin Capacity Building Network for River Engineering (NBCBN-RE). This network was coordinated by the NBCBN Secretariat with the support of UNESCO-IHE and the Hydraulics Research Institute of Egypt. It is unique in that it achieved to create collaboration between formerly isolated water professionals in a region characterized by political tension, poverty and growing water scarcity, while it was generally understood that a stable economic growth can only be guaranteed through agreed use of the water resources of the river Nile.

Collaboration between water professionals contributes to improved knowledge, based on applied scientific research, which at its turn contributes to the dialogue over water issues in the region. Almost all water related questions have a regional dimension and interventions have regional impacts.