nEcovic was formed in 1998 in Jinja Uganda and registered in Tanzania in 1999 as an international Non Governmental Organization with its Headquarters in Mwanza city. It has country chapters in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya,all of which are registered in their respective countries as national NGOs. Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya have their head offices in Mwanza, Jinja and Homa-bay respectively. Ecovic forms a regional umbrella organization for civil society organizations spread out in the entire Lake Victoria Basin serving over 30 million people in East Africa. Each country chapter has a wide range of membership of CSO’s engaged in different activities, among other areas fisheries and forest management, water and sanitation, environmental protection, small-scale socio-economic activities and human health related issues. The idea to form Ecovic was conceived on the realization of the need to create a forum through which communities within the entire Lake Victoria basin, through their organized groupings, could collectively be involved in initiatives directed towards improving the socio-economic livelihoods of the people and while at the same time improving on the environmental and ecological aspects.