CapNet-Pakistan is the Capacity Building Network for Integrated Water Resources Management in Pakistan. The CapNet-Pakistan was launched in a public meeting on October 29. 2003. It is made up of individuals and institutions in Pakistan working on training, research, education, advocacy and mobilization for integrated water resources management. The CapNet in Pakistan is a response to demand for capacity building in the wake of reforms in the water sector and the general situation of a crisis in the management of water resources in the country.

CapNet-Pakistan has a nine-member core group drawn from leading IWRM stakeholders in Pakistan. The Network has 94 members grown from 37 in 2003. Members include major civil society organizations in conservation, environment, Sustainable Development, Rural Development, and water management, universities, research institutes, government agencies and the private sector. This is a unique network in its breadth and scope of representation poised to build capacity for IWRM in Pakistan.

The IWRM paradigm has been accepted by the state in the wake of successful lobbying by the Pakistan Water Partnership. However, it is not official policy for a mix of complex reasons including an acute lack of capacity to address issues pertaining to the IWRM process. Principles of the IWRM process are still embedded in many processes of management change underway in the Indus Basin Irrigation System. Institutional Reforms in the Irrigation Sector are implementing decentralized management. Sizable IMT pilot projects are in place in the provinces. The country has serious riparian conflicts threatening security and allocation is contentious between federating provinces. In this context the launch of CapNet in Pakistan has been a response to demand for capacity building for IWRM in the country, observed the First Meeting of Members of CapNet-Pakistan held on November 11-121, 2004 in Multan. 

The CapNet-Pakistan now is positioned to provide a firm foundation from which to deliver capacity building. Most importantly, the network of member institutions across the country is well established and provides a solid opportunity for improved outreach, co-ordination and delivery of capacity building. This needs to be complemented by a body of materials and tools.