Third WCD Forum Meeting
25-27 February 2001 - Cape Town, South Africa

Response to the WCD Report
Paul Peter
Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation
Personal Statement

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen

I give the following information on the actual feedback to the Report of the WCD in my personal capacity as a staff member of the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation (SDC) and as a member of the Board of the Swiss Export Credit Agency. I have three messages to convey:

1. the report has reached Government
2. the report influences our dialogue at the World Bank and
3. the report is perceived differently by different stakeholders:

1. The report has reached Government

Last week, the Swiss Federal Council (the Government) has welcomed the Report of the WCD. The Ministers give this statement in answering a question of members of the Swiss Parliament asking about possible conclusions to be drawn from the report.

In the answer, the Federal Council notes that the WCD has issued a number of recommendations to the different partners involved in the construction and operation of dams. Specifically it states:

a) Regarding Switzerland's own dams, the legislation, rules and regulations are considered to be appropriate.
b) With regards to dams outside Switzerland he relates the answer mainly to the guidelines of the WCD regarding Export Credit Agencies (ECA). It quotes the recommendations: to introduce joint criteria regarding environmental issues, social aspects and international law, to strengthen their institutional capacity, to improve international co-ordination, to ask exporters for comprehensive documentation and to foster consultations and information.

The answer indicates that the statements and recommendations issued by the Commission will have to be further analysed. Where appropriate they will complement the existing and actually applied criteria of the Swiss ECA related to possible future dams projects.

For your information, let me say that the Swiss Export Credit Agency already takes into account a number of issues highlighted in the report. During 2000, it has introduced new questionnaires on environmental and development-related effects of projects to be answered by the exporters. These questionnaires were developed in consultation with interested Swiss NGOs. In addition, the Swiss ECA is an active member of the relevant OECD thematic groups.

2. the report influences our dialogue at the World Bank

Bilaterally, the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation is not engaged in dam projects directly. Nevertheless, we in SDC welcome the report as an important contribution to the ongoing debate on the role of dams in Development. As the report outlines, there are a number of technical, economic, financial, social, environmental and legal issues related to dams. For the recent discussion of the Report at the World Bank the following elements - as an example - where brought to the attention of the Swiss Chair:

· The WCD report is considered as an important and valuable contribution to the policy discussion on the development of dams
· The proposed holistic approach emphasising on the participation of affected people and beneficiaries as well as on adequate assessment of their rights and risks is welcomed.

· As the report suggests, it is important that social and socio-economic aspects are considered on an equal basis as economic and financial aspects, if possible negative effects of dam constructions' shall be mitigated and if dams shall really contribute to poverty reduction and development.

· The proposed "rights-and-risks approach" which - if adopted - will foster the protection of the rights of affected people and make them beneficiaries rather than pure bearers of social costs is welcomed.

· Taking into account the large and in future even increasing demand for drinking water and clean electricity from hydropower in developing countries, the option of building dams shall not be obstructed. Dams adequately planned and implemented by observing internationally agreed standards must remain a valid option.

3. the report is perceived differently by different stakeholders

As yet another contribution to the discussion of the WCDR, SDC has organised a presentation of the report to the interested public by Dr. Judy Henderson and Achim Steiner on January 18 at Berne. On behalf of my colleagues, I would like to thank them for the good presentation. The discussion showed that the perceptions on the messages of the report are varied, indeed. Notably, on the one hand, representatives of the Swiss Industry and of the Consultants were worried that the implementation of the guidelines as stated in the report would be detrimental for the industry. On the other hand there are voices which would prefer the report to become the bible with regard to dams.

Ladies and Gentleman,

with these remarks I hope to have been able to give you a short overview of the status of the discussion in the Swiss administration which will continue. I can inform you that we in SDC are willing to support the follow-up of the ongoing debate as we for the work of the WCD. I believe it was and will be resources well spent.

Let me close with a personal remark: having the privilege to work in the development co-operation, I and my colleagues learnt the lesson that any project will fail which does not englobe a balanced approach to social, institutional, economic, technical and human resources aspects.

Cape Town, February 25, 2001