the WCD Newsletter No 3 June 1999

 Editorial

by Professor Kader Asmal

 Consulting with Latin America

Preparations for the second regional consultation in São Paulo, Brazil, August 12 and 13 1999

 Global in every way

The WCD draws contributions and expertise from every continent (graphic)

 WCD news

The Commission forges links with other organisations.

 Indigenous people and dams: consultative meeting

Meeting of UN working group links to WCD Thematic Reviews

 An extraordinary group meets in Prague

Proponents and opponents of large dams accepted the challenge of the WCD forum.

 Update on the case study program

"Initiating the ten case studies across four continents has been one of the major activities during the past three months..."

 Global Funding validates the WCD approach

The WCD's 34 financial sponsors represent a broad spectrum of stakeholders.

 Calendar

Itinerary of WCD inputs, activities and outputs.

The net is being cast widely as we seek to reach out to all those who have a stake in the WCD process. Capturing knowledge and documenting lessons learned are at the heart of our mandate. Doing so in partnership without presuming that only the revered gurus and professional mandarins know best has moved us to seek and find knowledgeable people on all continents, through a wide range of networks and with many helpful pointers received from WCD Forum members, and other partners.

Our case studies have been initiated in nine countries on four continents. Seventeen thematic review papers have been commissioned with global teams of lead writers reflecting diversity of experience and perspective. In addition, each thematic review will be accompanied by a panel of 8 - 12 invited reviewers who will interact with the lead writers. All in all, the WCD Secretariat has in the past few months identified a total of more than 270 individuals who have committed themselves to contributing to the Commission's work.

We have also developed focused partnerships with a range of institutions holding vital information for the WCD such as the World Health Organisation, Transparency International, the United Nations Environment Programme, the International Commission on Large Dams and the Forest Peoples Programme, to mention but a few.

March 1999 also saw the first meeting of the WCD Forum. It proved an extraordinary occasion when many of us experienced for the first time the spirit of the original Gland workshop that gave birth to this Commission.

As a South African citizen who has just lived through the second democratic elections in our country, and as the Chair of the WCD, I am more convinced than ever that confrontation cannot resolve conflicts, despite the illusion of occasional short-term victories. The WCD process has been designed around the recognition that differing interests must be understood and respected before genuine agreements can be developed. This is the very reason why we have opted for such an intense and ambitious process.

We are gradually but systematically moving in the right direction. We are on the way.

Professor Kader Asmal
Chair of the WCD

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As the Commission enters the second and final year of its mandate, the international community continues to demonstrate its belief in the unique approach of the WCD process:

• In March, Germany's development ministry BMZ decided to double its initial donation, while Ireland, Australia and Italy are joining the growing list of financial contributors.
• In May, the UN Foundation, created by CNN founder Ted Turner, announced a major grant to the WCD process through a partnership with UNEP.
• In June 1999, WWF trebled its contribution to US$14,000, while The Berne Declaration, a Swiss NGO pledged US$2,000 to the WCD.

"With more than 34 financial contributors from public, private and civil society sectors, the WCD has shown that it is indeed a stakeholder driven process," said Achim Steiner, WCD Secretary General. "Fundraising towards achieving this goal has been challenging but it has given the WCD a mandate and exposure across the spectrum of institutions and perspectives in the dams debate that is perhaps unprecedented among international Commissions.''

While the larger donations bring tremendous relief in terms of the WCD's budget crunch, Mr. Steiner pointed out that "we are also immensely pleased with funds from organisations such as The Berne Declaration for whom US$2, 000 is a major commitment."

Commenting on the UN Foundation's decision to support the WCD-UNEP joint initiative, Timothy Wirth, President of the UN Foundation emphasised that "this partnership brings the UN into an exciting collaboration with business, activist groups, non-governmental organizations, governments, indigenous peoples' groups and international agencies that are represented in the WCD."

The UN Foundation grant includes a 'challenge grant' through which the Foundation will match every dollar the partnership raises from other sources, up to a total of US$900,000.

"We invite potential contributors to consider pledging their funds through the UN Foundation to the WCD, thereby doubling the value of each contribution and giving new meaning to an exciting experiment in public-private partnerships," said Mr. Steiner. As of June 1999 the WCD still faces a shortfall of US$1.9 million for its total budget, which it must secure before August of this year.

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One of the most contentious issues in the dams debate is the impact of dams on indigenous and tribal peoples and ethnic minorities. Dams are often built in remote rural areas, which in many cases are populated by minority groups, with reservoirs created by submerging land owned or customarily used by such groups. The social, economic, and political status of minorities frequently restricts their capacity to assert their interests and rights in land and natural resources, and restricts their role in decision-making that affects them. Such groups may be inadvertently harmed by development unless their specific circumstances are addressed in advance.

The question of the impact of dams on such minority groups will be examined in a WCD paper, part of the 'thematic reviews' series. These are 17 papers written under five themes: economic, social, environmental and institutional issues surrounding dams, and an assessment of alternatives to dams. The study on indigenous and tribal peoples and ethnic minorities is being prepared by a global team of lead writers, coordinated by Dr. Marcus Colchester of the Forest Peoples Programme.

In order to ensure broad participation in the development of this paper, the WCD is organising a consultative workshop of interested parties to discuss the study in Geneva. The workshop immediately follows the meeting of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations in Geneva July 26-30. Indigenous peoples' representatives have been invited to comment on findings and to explore options for addressing their concerns together with representatives from utilities, companies, governments and international organisations. Sponsors for the meeting include the WCD, Tebtebba Foundation of the Philippines, and the International Working Group on Indigenous Affairs.

The most critical direct impact, namely displacement and dislocation to make room for dams and reservoirs, has often been justified as a 'sacrifice' for the 'greater good of the nation'. Questions arise as to the availability and adequacy of compensation for loss of land, water, forests and other common property, and whether compensation and resettlement programmes are designed to be appropriate for the communities in question.

In terms of the national good, minorities often argue that more is lost than gained in building dams, as they incur the loss of indigenous knowledge and appropriate land and water use practices, which have built-in mechanisms for sustainability. They argue in favour of different development paradigms.

For more detailed information on the structure of the WCD paper, please visit Work Programme/Thematic Reviews

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The WCD : Global in every way...

Case studies of Dams and River Basins in:

USA, Brazil, India, Zambia/Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Thailand, Norway, Turkey

Regional Consultations with stakeholder groups in:

South Asia Colombo, Sri Lanka, Latin America São Paulo, Brazil, Africa - Middle East, South-East Asia

WCD forum members from:

Kenya, Italy, USA, Côte D'Ivoire, Senegal, Venezuela, Canada, Brazil, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Japan, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Russia, UK, Paraguay, Lesotho, Mexico, Sri Lanka, China, Romania, Israel, Nepal, Thailand, Chile, Spain, Cambodia, Ghana, Jordan.
The Thematic Reviews include a further 200 individuals, extending the WCD's reach to more nations than can be indicated on the map.

Commission members and secretariat staff from:

USA, Sweden, South Africa, Philippines, Brazil, China, Australia, India, Zimbabwe, Canada, Pakistan, Netherlands, Senegal, Germany, UK

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One of the central goals of the WCD is to reach out to stakeholders, concerned individuals and groups all over the world, to learn from their experiences with large dams. Regional consultations are seen as a means of collating the diversity of lessons and perspectives. Preparations are therefore underway to organise the second regional consultation on Latin America in São Paulo, Brazil on August 12-13, 1999.

The presentations at the consultation will ensure adequate representation from countries in the region as well as from various interest groups involved in the debate over large dams and sustainable water and energy management. In addition to the panellists, approximately 150-200 observers including the media are expected to attend.
The Latin American Consultation will be exploring some of the following themes:

• Participation and Conflict Resolution
• Energy and Dams
• Food Security and Dams
• The Economics of Dams
• Resettlement and Affected People
• Environmental Impacts of Dams

The themes for the regional consultations are derived from the work programme. This will help the Commission in two ways. The information generated will be directly relevant to the work programme. The presentations will also feed into the Commission meeting following the public consultation by offering substantive material for discussion among Commission members.

A call for submissions for the regional consultation was sent to a wide range of organizations and networks in the region.

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Proponents and opponents of dams who attended the first meeting of the WCD Forum on 25-26 March 1999, accepted the challenge posed to them by the WCD in Prague, Czech Republic, to join the Forum.

Like the Commission itself, the 55-member Forum is an innovation in global public policy-making. The Forum includes representatives from the broad spectrum of perspectives around the dams' debate: utilities and indigenous people, economists and social activists, environmentalists and engineers, and lending institutions and aid agencies that often fund dams.

During the two-day deliberations in Prague, the Forum members discussed the work programme with members of the Commission and the staff of the WCD Secretariat. Working in plenary and in smaller group sessions, the Forum members highlighted the main issues they would like the Commission to address in its studies and final report such as:

• in-depth analysis of the economics of dams, irrigation and power production;
• resettlement and compensation for those displaced by dam reservoirs;
• environmental and social impacts given similar weightage to economic issues, when decisions are made to build dams or adopt alternatives;
• consideration of the costs and benefits of alternatives to dams, such as natural gas and coal generation of power, and their impact on the environment;
• improved forecasting of river flows (with particular attention to climate change) and electricity consumption;
• issues of good governance that would ensure all parties affected by dams are included in decision-making about dams and their alternatives;
• the WCD to look at the positive impacts of dams particularly in terms of energy provision and ensuring food security.

The following steps were proposed by the Commission to build and strengthen partnership with the Forum:

• The Forum members will receive regular updates on the progress and activities of the Commission
• Forum members will be invited as observers to WCD regional consultations in Brazil, Africa-Middle East and South-East Asia;
• A second Forum meeting will be held in April 2000, to allow the Commission to share thinking on the progress of the WCD in fulfilling its mandate;
• Forum members will be called upon to assist the WCD in the studies of the work programme and on broader strategic issues.

The Forum meeting ended with the concluding remarks of the WCD Chair. "We want all those involved with the dams debate to feed into our deliberations and to be sufficiently convinced at the end of the process that we have delivered a product that is both just and employable."

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Initiating the 10 case studies spread across four continents has been one of the major WCD activities during the past three months. By the end of June the case study process had been initiated in Brazil, China, India, Norway, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey, USA and Zambia/Zimbabwe. In China and India the WCD is developing a broader study approach to take account of the large population of dams found in these two countries.

In keeping with the WCD approach, teams of national experts from various backgrounds, perspectives and disciplines have been appointed to implement the studies. Secretariat staff are providing conceptual and logistical support to these teams who are working on the basis of a common methodology developed through the pilot study conducted on the Orange River Basin in South Africa.

The first three stakeholder meetings to review the draft scoping papers for the studies have been held in Norway, Pakistan and the USA. Brazil, Thailand, Turkey and Zambia/Zimbabwe are scheduled to follow in July. For those studies already initiated the WCD has received very positive feedback - both in terms of the issues covered and the process it has adopted. Observations and recommendations from the stakeholder consultations are currently being incorporated in the terms of reference for the full case studies. Reconciling information needs with budgets and a realistic scope have inevitably caused some sleepless nights for the study teams.
Overall, it is interesting to note that most case studies initially encounter strong scepticism on the part of some stakeholders. Lack of information or misinformation can trigger concerns and fears that result in negative perceptions of the WCD effort. Based on the first three scoping meetings held so far, it appears that face-to-face dialogue quickly demonstrates the transparent and independent approach that the WCD has developed. Creating the space for an independent study may be the biggest hurdle we face in implementing this element of the work programme.

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WCD-UNEP partnership

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