First WCD Forum Meeting
25-26 March, 1999, Czech Republic

Opening Remarks by Kader Asmal, Chairman

In a little over two weeks time it will be two years since a number of you sat down in Gland, Switzerland at a workshop call Large Dams: Learning from the Past, Looking at the Future. Today, this gathering is evidence of the huge success and impact of that workshop.

I am pleased to welcome you all here today to this meeting, the inaugural meeting of the World Commission on Dams Forum. I am particularly delighted that we are meeting in Prague in the center heart of Europe. I should add that there is no particular reason why we chose Prague (apart from some element of self-indulgence) other than that it is so centrally located in Europe and because it is such a beautiful city, along with my own home city, Cape Town, and a very few other cities in the world.

I am particularly thankful to all of you who have made the time to be here for this meeting, to gather here with others from all corners of the world. We represent a very significant sample of the world citizenry who are particularly concerned about the future of our world. We represent a cross-section of viewpoints on the question of large dams and broader issues of human and sustainable development.

Those who met at Gland, those who accepted appointment to the Commission, those who left good stable employment to join the Secretariat of the Commission, and all of you who accepted to serve on this Forum, have in one way o another taken a bold leap into unknown territory. We have embarked on a journey on which the future of many of our reputations depends - therefore onus is upon all of us to ensure that this Commission succeeds.

At the risk of sounding too much like a cheerleader let me elaborate:

In the first instance it is essential that the Commission, consisting of the 12 women and men who collectively make up the Commission, is, and, as such, is seen to be independent. Without this attribute we could pack up and go home now. There is too much at stake for the WCD to become anyone's object of manipulation - we have seen what has happened in the last few months to the International Olympic Committee. It turned out the IOC could be bought. Whilst I am Chair of the Commission (and I intend to see the process through to the very end) no-one will buy the Commission although, I hasten to add, I hope everyone will buy the final report.

In the second instance the Commission has to show signs of vitality, an indication of the innovativeness, thoughtfulness and seriousness with which we approach the job we are undertaking. Unlike the IOC we are not a collection of predominantly boring ageing sportsmen but a group of men and women who bring a multitude of experience and opinions to the table. Unlike some other international bodies including a few Commissions that have preceded us we do not believe that this Commission is just a talkshop with no concrete efforts to address the issues at stake. Ours will not be a report that sits on the bookshelf gathering dust. At the end of our process we hope to leave you and the international community with the necessary tools to move forward and to be able to work co-operatively in an area crucial to the sustainable development of our planet.

In the final instance we need to ensure that this Commission has the capacity to influence the debate. This is one of the main reasons why you are here today. We want all those involved in some way or another with the dams debate to feed into our own deliberations and to be sufficiently convinced at the end of the process that we have delivered a product that is both just and employable. Of course this requires that we make people sit up and take note. One of our more recent tasks has been to write to all the heads of government in the world to begin briefing them about the WCD and to prepare them for the final report. We need also to ensure that all our active role players also influence others in their own spheres to ensure that the message of the Commission is spread far and wide. It is particularly pleasing that we have a senior member of UNEP - Mr Shaftag Kakakhel with us today because we need also to persuade the international community and the bodies that serve it that this Commission cannot be ignored.

The WCD Forum calls for a commitment from its members that is unusual yet reflects the mandate developed by the various interests represented at the Gland workshop. It is a consultative forum to enable us to continue the dialogue. However, it also poses a challenge to each one of your organisations and networks. Having called for an honest and independent review of the issues - are you also prepared to ensure that its findings and recommendations are heard. Even if you know that not everything we say will meet with your concurrence - will you support us in our endeavor to break out of the self-defeating cycle of argument and counter argument, accusation and counter accusation that has made the dams debate one of the most passionate but also questionable controversies?

For those wishing to score points in the short run or secure the next deal the answer may be no. But for anyone genuinely interested in finding better answers to old problems that will not disappear - the WCD is a rare opportunity!

We are working at the cutting edge of global public policy making. Decisions on the future management of water and energy resources have long transcended national boundaries to reflect regional and global interdependency. More importantly they have transcended the traditional confines of public sector decision making. The WCD is one of the first international commissions to establish a credible framework for the private sector and civil society to be active participants in shaping global policy.

Such an opportunity poses dilemmas. Corporations must deliver shareholder value on an annual basis. How do you justify investing in the future and a process that is uncertain? Similarly, advocacy organisations will find themselves confronting complexity and compromise rather than the straight forward campaigns focused on the foolish errors committed by others in the past.

The WCD, in the end, calls for individuals and organisations to assume a new kind of responsibility in international affairs. My assumption is that you are here because your institutions recognise that the strategy and tactics of the past do not provide the answers for the future.

Perhaps more by accident than design the WCD is emerging as a timely and exciting experiment in the global arena. Dams may at first appear a somewhat unexpected and narrow focus for such a bold experiment. Yet it is precisely the specific and multi-facetted nature of the dams debate that provides the WCD with an opportunity to demonstrate that sustainable development can move beyond abstract generalisations that remain of little consequence to decision making.

While some expected us not to exist beyond the first meeting of the Commission members I am pleased to tell you that we are very much alive and kicking. To date we have had three successful meetings, in Washington, Cape Town and Colombo (Sri Lanka) and a successful South Asian consultation in Sri Lanka. During this time we have consolidated the cohesion of the Commission, set up the Secretariat, and, developed, approved and begun implementing the comprehensive work programme of the Commission. Much of this has happened in the last 10 months. I am sure that you will agree, after you have heard the presentation by the Secretary General, that this is an astonishing achievement.

In closing I want to urge you take an active part in the deliberations over the next two days and in the months ahead. This Commission is set to be an example in international conflict resolution and all of us are part of that and have a role to play. Needless to say this requires understanding and tolerance on all our parts. I look forward to interacting with as many of you as possible.