Is transboundary water management an international public good, and, if so, how can it be best provided through financial mechanisms? Working on behalf of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this research project focused on four regions: southern Africa, the Middle East, the Mekong sub-region and the Southern Caucasus. Working together on addressing these key questions through the case studies, an international team of consultants led by ODI produced a report which, inter alia, called for the creation of an International Shared Waters Facility (ISWF). The ISWF would help to coordinate and channel support to shared waters management at an international level and received enthusiastic endorsement when a policy brief deriving from the project and also supported by Sweden was presented at the Bonn International Conference on Freshwaters (December 2001).