The Lake Victoria Basin is considered one of the most important shared natural resource by the Partner States of East Africa. Initially, much of the donor interest focused mainly on the lake, fisheries and fisheries management, ecology, biology, hydrology, water pollution and related natural science concerns. Over time a growing understanding emerged of the need to co-ordinate the many fragmented projects in the area. Despite this, there was weak regional policy framework and lack of agreements on management of the common resources in the lake basin. This resulted in increased level of interest to jointly develop and manage the resources to secure its ecological and economic health.