Consultative meeting of the Executive Committee of IFAS with international organizations and donors on the development of Third Aral Sea Basin Programme (ASBP-3) took place in Almaty on 3 February 2010. The meeting brought together the national representatives of Central Asian States in the Executive Committee of IFAS, representatives of international organizations (European Commission, UNDP Europe and CIS,  UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia, UN Economic Commission for Europe) and donors (World Bank, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Eurasian Development Bank, and Transboundary Water Management Programme of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ)). The meting was organized by the Executive Committee of IFAS and facilitated by UNECE in the framework of the Project «Regional Dialogue and Cooperation on Water Resources Management in Central Asia».

Representatives of donors and international organizations were briefed about the outcomes of the First Meeting of the Working Group on Institutional and Legal Strengthening of IFAS and the Development of ASBP-3, which took place on 10-11 December 2009 in Almaty. They were also informed about the upcoming national consultations in five Central Asian countries concerning the strengthening of institutional and legal frameworks and the ASBP-3 development process.

Participants discussed the Framework Document on ASBP-3 developed by the Executive Committee of IFAS. They also addressed opportunities for organization of additional meetings of Central Asian experts to develop specific priority areas of ASBP-3. The UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia informed about the upcoming visit of the UN Secretary General to Central Asia in April 2010. Management of water and energy resources and efforts to improve the situation in the Aral Sea region will be important issues on the agenda of this visit.