The workshop was organized in the period from 5th -7th of April, 2009, by the UNESCO Chair for Water Resources, Sudan, the hosting institution of Sudan Node and the River Morphology Research Cluster. The event was organized in collaboration with NBCBN –Secretariat office in Cairo, and was attended by Eng. Amel Azab representative of the NBCBN management team, and the scientific advisor of the research cluster, Dr. Alessandra Crosato from UNESCO-IHE, the Netherlands. The workshop program included one day seminar and two working days for the cluster discussions and presentations. Countries which participated in the workshop were: Burundi, Egypt, Kenya and Sudan. The opening ceremony was attended by the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Omdurman Islamic University who gave a speech on behalf of the University, which is supporting the activities of the UNESCO-Chair, and a group of professionals and experts in the field of river morphology from different institutions and Universities in Sudan.

In the seminar day a group of presentations reflecting the ongoing research in the field of river morphology and the state of the art in the topic were delivered by experts from different institutions and running projects. In addition, presentation by the group coordinators of the cluster and the local action research topics were also presented. The titles of these presentations are:

1. Sediment Transport and River Morphodynamics Nile River, Alessandra Crosato, UNESCO-IHE
2. Morphological processes of Blue Nile River between Roseires and Sinnar , MSc thesis by Yasir Salih, UNESCO-IHE
3. Challenges of Water Resources and Environmental Management in The Nile Basin, Prof. Kamal Abdo, University of Khartoum
4. Bridge Pier Scour (River Nile in Sudan), Dr. M. Akode
5. Blue Nile Hydrosolidarity- In search of sustainable catchment and basin wide solidarity in the Blue Nile River Basin, Yasir Salih, University of Khartoum and UNESCO-IHE

During the rest of the workshop, the main discussion points were related to the cluster research group’s progress and detailed work plans for finalisation of research tasks. The workshop outputs and recommendations will be reported and published soon on NBCBN website

The Nile Basin Capacity Building Network in collaboration with the University of Nairobi, the hosting institute of the NBCBN Kenya node and the Flood Management research cluster, organized the “5th Regional Workshop on Capacity Building in Flood Management” in Kenya from 20th to 22nd of April 2009.

In the first day of this event a Seminar on "Integrated Flood Management" was organized, while the remaining three days were allocated for the regional meeting of the Flood Management Cluster research teams. In the seminar day 5 presentations reflecting the different applications and studies in Flood Management were delivered by experts from different institutions and running projects in the region. In addition, presentations by the group coordinators of the cluster and the local action research topics were also presented. The Cluster scientific advisors shared with the seminar participants their knowledge related to the state of the art in the seminar topic.

In the workshop days the discussions focused mainly on the three cluster research topics:

• Flood and Catchment Management
• Flood and Drought Forecasting and Early Warning Systems
• Integrated Flood and Drought Management for Sustainable Development in the Nile Basin

The Nile Basin Capacity Building Network in collaboration with the Hydraulics Research Institute (HRI) of Egypt, the hosting institute of the NBCBN Egypt node and the GIS-Modelling research cluster, organized the “5th Regional Workshop on Capacity Building in GIS and Modelling Applications in River Engineering” in Egypt from 30th of March to 2nd of April 2009.

In the first day of this event a Seminar on "Advances in using GIS and Modelling in River Engineering and Water Resources Management" was organized, while the remaining three days were allocated for the regional meeting of the GIS and Modelling Cluster research teams.

In the seminar day 5 presentations reflecting the application of GIS, remote sensing and modelling in the water resources management were delivered by experts from different institutions and running projects in the region. In addition, presentations by the group coordinators of the cluster and the local action research topics were also presented. The Cluster scientific advisors shared with the seminar participants their knowledge related to the state of the art in the seminar topic.

In the workshop days the discussions focused mainly on the three cluster research topics:

1. Hydrological and Environmental Aspects of Wetlands
2. GIS Based Decision Support Tool for Sustainable Development of SUDD Marshes Region (SUDAN)
3. Sediment Yield Modelling using SWAT Model in Tropical Regions