21 September 2001
Steering Committee Meets to establish Dams & Development Unit
First assembly to discuss agenda for coming two year work programme of WCD successor

Following the decision of the WCD Forum meeting in February 2001, a diverse, multi-stakeholder Steering Committee met in Frankfurt on 16 September to detail the substantive direction for the Dams and Development Project (DDP) - a two year follow up to the World Commission on Dams.

Updated, 21 September
The first meeting of the Steering Committee held in Frankfurt on 16 September 2001 reached agreement on a number of outstanding issues for the two-year WCD follow-up initiative, now called the Dams and Development Project (DDP). These include the framework and content of the work programme, the respective roles of UNEP and the Steering Committee, and the final composition of a broader and more inclusive Steering Committee. The text of the work programme can be read here.

Discussions with an initial group of potential financial contributors are at an advanced stage. The current plan is to formally launch the DDP before the end of October.

5 September 2001
The Steering Committee will include representatives from: the World Bank, IUCN-the World Conservation Union, developing country governments, affected peoples movements, industry/private sector, international and national NGOs, bilateral development partners and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) - the proposed host organisation for the DDU.

Based on the mandate and guidance given by the February WCD Forum meeting (http://www.dams.org/events/forum_3.htm), a representative group of Forum members have been working with the transition WCD Secretariat, UNEP and interested financial partners to make the DDU a reality. The Steering Committee meeting will chart the course for the DDUs two year programme reflecting the change in focus from global policy development to regional, national and institutional initiatives. To support these processes, the DDUs four main aims are to:

ensure widespread dissemination and understanding of the World Commission on Dams report, its findings, messages and recommendations;

act as a catalyst to support regional and country-level dialogues and information exchange on the issues the Report addresses;

strengthen interaction and networking among participants in the dams debate; and

facilitate the flow of information and advice on good practice and initiatives taken by individual stakeholders or stakeholder groups pursuant to the WCD report.

The DDU will collectively have experience in water and energy planning, social issues and participatory processes, environmental impacts and management, hydropower and irrigation, economics and financing, and communications.

WCD Forum members participating in the initial Steering Committee meeting on September 16 include:

World Bank (Alessandro Palmieri)
IUCN (Ger Bergkamp)
Montgomery Watson Harza (Refaat Abdel-Malek)
International Rivers Network (Patrick McCully)
Lesotho Highlands Development Project (R T Mochebelele)
Narmada Bachao Andolan (Shripad Dharmadhikary)
BMZ Germany (Manfred Konukiewitz)
UNEP (Donald Kaniaru)

The agenda includes reaching agreement on

the final composition of the DDU Steering Committee,

governance arrangements,

the detailed scope of the work programme and activity schedule,

staffing requirements and recruitment procedures,

the role and composition of the DDU Forum

budget and financing, and

communications strategy and tools.

The transition WCD Secretariat will be represented by Jeremy Bird -
contact jbird@dams.org