The seminar was conducted within the framework of Central Asia regional initiatives, including the Aral Sea Basin Program-3 and Disaster Risk Management Initiative in Central Asia and Caucasus.

The European Commission, United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the World Bank in partnership with the Uzbekistan Hydro-meteorological Center provided the major financial support to the seminar.

The key objectives of the Workshop were to reveal and assess the main challenges related to disaster risk reduction including those related to climate change; discuss main issues of hydro-meteorological and climate service delivery in Central Asia and Caucasus; and reach agreement on how to improve these services.

Issues of a scope, main activities, cooperation modalities for regional cooperation, national and donor financing to upgrade national hydro-meteorological services (HMS) in the region and to build their capacities were discussed and agreed upon during the Workshop.

Participants of the Workshop included representatives of agencies involved in disaster risk reduction and main users of hydro-meteorological information such as early warning, agriculture, water resources management, energy, transport, nature protection, mass media, etc. Senior HMS officials from Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and China and Russia took part in the Workshop.

Aral Sea Basin Program-3 (ASBP-3) for 2011-2015 prepared by the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) and Regional Hydrology Center within the IFAS (for HMSs) is a regional initiative of five Central Asian countries (with the support from several donor and development agencies) to ensure comprehensive development of major river basins in the region (Amudarya and Syrdarya).

Central Asia and Caucasus Disaster Risk Management Initiative (CAC DRMI) is a joint initiative of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) countries, World Bank, United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) and World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) (for hydrometeorology) with support from several donor and development agencies.

The Initiative includes three main components: (a) disaster mitigation, preparedness and response; (b) disaster financing, including compensation for losses caused by disaster, reconstruction and rehabilitation of destroyed objects and infrastructure and development of risk transfer instruments, such as disaster, adverse conditions and climate insurance; and (c) hydrometeorological forecasting, data exchange and early warning systems.