Notably, the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) founded the original Mekong River Committee in 1957, and continues to support the Commission established in 1995. It assists in the development and strengthening of multicountry river basin institutions, fostering policy and legislative reforms, and promoting broad stakeholder involvement in addressing key threats and priorities. It has allocated USD 9.2 billion, supplemented by more than USD 40 billion in co-financing, for more than 2 700 projects in over 165 countries. For example, GWP has been leading since 2000 the Dialogues on Effective Water Governance with the International Council for Local Environment Initiatives (ICLEI).