26 January 2001
German Government announces national follow up to WCD Report
Minister welcomes WCD report

A dialogue forum on the WCD process and report was convened by Germany's Minister for Development Cooperation in Berlin, on January 16th and 17th. Speaking at the opening of the Forum attended by 150 representatives of Germany's government departments, the private sector and NGOs as well as UNEP, IFC IISD and the Governments of the UK and Netherlands, Ms. Wieczoreck Zeul announced that the her Government will establish a new 'platform for dialogue' with German industry and NGOs to identify how best Germany can respond to the report. BMZ and GTZ had worked in close collaboration with public agencies, NGOs and the Deutsches Talsperrenkommitte (German chapter of ICOLD) in preparing the dialogue.

During her opening speech, the Minister welcomed the WCD report as a significant contribution to the debate about the future role of dams in water and energy resources management. She also committed her Ministry to undertaking a review of its own guidelines and to promote the consideration of the recommendations by the World Bank and other international financing institutions.

During 2 days of intense yet very constructive debate more than 25 speakers from all sectors of society presented their institutions' perspectives on the report and its implications for the future. These presentations were followed by a series of working groups to assess next steps ? Despite divergent views on the findings of the report and the practical applicability of some of its recommendations a clear sense of the meeting emerged that the WCD report provided an important baseline for future policy development and could in many respects serve as reference point for good conduct in the planning, construction and operation of dams.

In her closing remarks, BMZ Deputy Minister, Uschi Eid, commented on the remarkable spirit with which the meeting had for the first time in years succeeded to bring all sides of the debate in Germany together in a forward looking and positive dialogue. BMZ will now convene a meeting of the 'platform for dialogue' to agree on a timetable and key issues that should guide the review process for German development cooperation and financing. Mr. Luetkestraatkotter, President of the German ICOLD chapter, also announced that ICOLD's annual meeting will be held in Dresden in September 2001 and results of this dialogue could be presented as part of the broader debate about benefits and concerns of dams at this meeting.

For further info see: http://www.bmz.de
Summary of the meeting in German (PDF): http://www.gtz.de/themen/publikationen/dialogforum_zusammenfassung.pdf