How to allocate the water resources of rivers that run through several countries is a highly complex and politically sensitive issue involving questions of national sovereignty. For the countries that share the Nile River basin, a UNDP-supported project aims to define an acceptable framework for cooperation that will pave the way for equitable and legitimate use of the Nile. This on-going $3.2 million project started in 1997 with a series of dialogues and workshops. Two study teams were formed - to tackle legal/institutional and data/technical issues - in order to prepare national reports. Important compromises have been made in the draft framework, but some important issues remain unresolved. The key to successfully resolving transboundary water issues, UNDP has identified, is establishing a dialogue, ownership of the process by the countries who must share the resources, and long-term trust of outside institutions involved.