UNDP is the United Nation’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. UNDP is represented in 177 countries and territories and works on four focus areas: poverty reduction and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals; democratic governance; crisis prevention and recovery; and environment and energy for sustainable development.

The joint IAEA-UNDP project for the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System aims to gain a clear understanding of the transboundary issues, problems and potential solutions related to this fossil water aquifer system, which is the world’s largest. The project also has the goal to establish a process for achieving a strategic action programme jointly developed and agreed to by the four countries under which the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System runs: Chad, Egypt, Libya and Sudan.

The other major joint project of the two organizations focuses on filling the information gap that exists about the role of groundwater and its contribution to water balances in lakes, rivers and wetlands in the Nile Basin. The goal of the project is to strengthen the protection of the rivers and lakes in the Basin.