ANNEX 11

Closing Remarks Prof. Kader Asmal, former chair of World Commission on Dams

Feb 27, 2001 Spier Wine Estate Final Forum Meeting of WCD

In closing, thank you for all your constructive participation, your engagement on the issues with the Report, with the Former Commissioners and Secretariat, and above all, with each other. You must be exhausted, but I hope, at the same time, encouraged.

I have read hard copies of official statements and presentations. On Sunday I listened intently to your reactions, both supportive and critical.

In my opening remarks, I have addressed many of the concerns raised previously, and am gratified that those remarks resonated enough among you that some explicitly would like them excerpted for inclusion in future dissemination efforts.

In listening to some of the comments about the WCD process, it is important not to rewrite history. Let me therefore put a few "urban myths" to rest, lest they take us back, mired in messy controversy, rather than forward, building on our clearly established consensus.

• First on the establishment of the Commission: At our first meeting in Washington in May 1998 Wolfgang Pircher chose voluntarily to withdraw, as he felt he could not meet the heavy time demands required of a Commissioner. In nominating a representative I personally workd with Kare Hoeg in selecting Jan Veltrop, and I want to say here that we could not have had a more professional, committed and above all, passionate member of the Commission. I thus want to pay a special tribute to him here, as a life-long pioneer and visionary who has served his profession and indeed ICOLD in extraordinary ways.
  
  

• On the issue of the vice-chair: Lakshmi Jain was not "dictated" by any group; I personally selected him in consultation with our interim working group because of his experience, perspective and intellect.
  
  

• Shen Gouyi withdrew for health reasons, as everyone knows as we publicised this in press releases, and she did so long before work on the Report began. It was our decision to not seek a new member at that stage of the process.
  
  

  Finally, on Sunday we heard opinions that, in the working world, the Report sets "unrealistic" for industry and governments, especially those labouring in the South, causing lengthy delays.

  Yet on Monday, we learned from a top government water minister, and an industry practitioner, that when it came time to put these into practice, the criteria and guidelines were not only possible, and attainable, but eminently useful to them. I note both of these "reality checks" took place not in the US or Europe, but Africa and Southeast Asia, and over the course of three months.

  I think all of us now recognise that it would be a mistake to walk away from this Forum meeting and assume the conflict will go away on its own. Each of you has chosen to continue to engage on the issues, working directly with the Report, through both formal and informal channels.

  You may differ widely in reactions to the Report, which reflects a healthy disagreement. But you have chosen to protect the process, which made that Report possible, and you have indicated that many concerns relate to how that report may be interpreted. That is indeed a challenge -- but it is our challenge as actors. All reports pass through such a phase of clarification.

  In the last WCD newsletter, you might have noticed that many members of the Secretariat became proud fathers during the course of the Commission work in the last year or two. I know that many of us are also parents, of course, and the two most important -- and most difficult -- things for any parent to do for his or her child, is:

• to provide it with deep roots for stability, strength, protection and life
  
  

• but also give it wings to grow and develop, independent and free.
  
  

  Through questions and issues explored through this Forum Meeting it appears we face the same challenge with the work of the World Commission on Dams.

  How do we continue to protect and provide a home for our child's deep tap roots -- the knowledge base, findings, recommendations, strategic priorities, criteria and guidelines -- upon which the Report firmly rests? Where is the home to which it can return as it ages and adapts?

  How do we give it wings into the world. How do we let it take shape in unique form depending on use? How do we reach the poor and illiterate, who don't have access to the Report either in hard copy or electronic format?

  Finally, and most difficult: How do we let go of the Report and trust it to stand on its own, to speak for itself, to stay out of trouble and instead become a creative force of change, reform and consensus in the world?

  Is it ready to thrive as it is? Is it mature enough to handle crises without us? Does it need more support and encouragement? Does it require more feeding, education and discipline?

  These are all questions you have answered after deliberate thought and consideration. You have debated these issues on their merits.

  But what I find most encouraging is that, like any parent who has reared a child into adulthood, we find that whether or not we agree our offspring needs us any longer, we have grown, for better or worse rather attached to, even dependent upon, the WCD Report, the WCD Knowledge Base and the WCD Process. It seems always at the centre of our thoughts, demanding our undivided attention.

  You have in the past two and a half days laid out a road map for moving forward. It is ambitious but realistic; it is challenging to all of us but also sensitive to our concerns. I believe that you have ensured with your proposals and decisions that the report evolves into a living reference point for all of us.

  In closing, I want to thank the Forum, my fellow veterans on the Commission, the WCD Secretariat, and the many unnamed voices and actors who are already working out there to move forward.

  Thank you.