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WCD Raises Bar on Resettlement

by S. Parasuraman, World Rivers Review (IRN Newsletter) - 3 April 2001

The World Commission on Dams (WCD) thoroughly documented the issues and problems with dam-induced displacement in its final report. The report also established guidelines that will give dam-affected communities greater rights, and ensure that risks to those communities are thoroughly explored. It clearly states that affected people must be among the first beneficiaries of a project. The WCD derived its knowledge base on resettlement from a variety of sources, including numerous studies, testimony and submissions from affected people and other stakeholders. In addition, the Commission-ers visited affected people in resettlement areas in several countries.

The Commission found overwhelming evidence to conclude that:

Dams have displaced from 40 to 80 million people. However, numbers of displaced peo-ple are systematically underestimated and several categories of affected groups have been underestimated or not counted at all. People who have suffered livelihood losses downstream and upstream of dams have been omitted in many cases;

The proportion of displaced people who have not been resettled is often very high (e.g., 75 percent of the displaced in India are not resettled);

Large numbers of resettlers have not had their livelihoods restored, resulting in impoverishment in many cases;

Large dams have had significant adverse effects on cultural heritage;

The higher the number of people displaced the lesser the chances of proper resettlement;

Most development decisions involving displacement are made without a full assessment of social impacts. Despite greater awareness and improved policies, projects implemented even in the 1990s started with-out or inadequate assessment; and, A lack of legal frameworks to enforce compliance contributed to the impacts of displacement going unmitigated.

In the process of creating dams, the highest risks were borne by society's most vulnerable groups - indigenous and tribal peoples, pastoral communities, fisherpeople and floodplain agriculturalists. With avenues for recourse being largely inaccessible, unavailable or ineffective, impoverishment and social decline were inevitable.

The WCD confirmed that there is good cause for the intense struggle of dam-affected people which resulted from widespread dam-age to livelihoods, health, culture and welfare and impoverishment induced by dams and related infrastructure. There is an urgent need to address outstanding social problems associated with existing large dams by providing reparations to dam-affected peoples. The WCD extensively debated the issue of power relations within society and ways of empowering vulnerable and marginalized groups so they have a meaning role in the planning and decision-making process. The Commission states that, to be socially legitimate and produce positive and lasting out-comes, development projects should provide for greater involvement of all interested par-ties. Instead of exacerbating existing inequalities, water and energy resources development should be opportunities for achieving a high level of equity. The planning process should be sensitive to, and take account of social and economic disparities, and devise and implement mechanisms for addressing them.

Key policy principles to facilitate public acceptance included:

Recognition of rights and assessment of risks is the basis for the identification and inclusion of stakeholders in decision making on energy and water resources development. Access to information is key. Legal and other support should be made available to all stakeholders, particularly vulnerable groups, to enable their informed participation in decision-making processes;

Demonstrable public acceptance of all key decisions is achieved through agreements negotiated in an open and transparent process conducted in good faith and with the informed participation of all stakeholders;

Decisions on projects affecting indigenous and tribal peoples are guided by their free, prior and informed consent.

The requirement for free, prior and informed consent gives indigenous and tribal communities - the group most seriously affected by development projects with the least power to safeguard their interests - the power to consent to projects and to negotiate the conditions under which they can proceed. The effective implementation of this practice marks a significant step forward in recognizing the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples, ensuring their genuine participation in decision-making and securing their long-term benefits. The Commission believes that all countries should be guided by this concept, regard-less of whether it has been enacted into law. Once a project has received public acceptance, assessment of all negative social impacts and a plan for mitigation and development of the affected peoples should be developed. At the project-design stage, joint negotiations involving government and adversely affected people should result in mutually agreed and legally enforceable resettlement and benefit-sharing provisions. Affected people should become beneficiaries of the project. Successful mitigation, resettlement and development are fundamental commitments and responsibilities of the government and developer in projects developed by private investors. They bear the onus to satisfy affected people that moving from their current context with agreed pro-visions will improve their livelihoods.

Accountability of responsible parties to agreed mitigation, resettlement and development provisions is ensured through accessible legal recourse at national and international levels.

Effective implementation of this involves applying the following principles:

Recognition of rights and assessment of risks is the basis for identification and inclusion of adversely affected stakeholders in joint negotiations on mitigation, resettlement and development related decision-making. Impact assessment includes all people in the reservoir, upstream, downstream and in catchment areas whose properties, livelihoods and non-material resources are affected. It also includes those affected by dam-related infrastructure such as canals, transmission lines and resettlement developments. Adversely affected people are recognised as first among the beneficiaries of the project. Mutually agreed and legally protected benefit sharing mechanisms are negotiated to ensure implementation.

All recognised adversely affected people negotiate mutually agreed, formal and legally enforceable mitigation, resettlement and development entitlements. Formal acceptance of the negotiated agreements by all negatively affected people signifies their consent to move the project from design to implementation stage.

The WCD final report includes criteria and guidelines operationalising these principles.The author was a Senior Advisor to the WCD.

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