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dam-l World Commission on Dams Update No. 4
Dear Colleague,
Attached is the fourth issue (plain text version) of the Large Dams
Review Update, an occasional briefing of the IUCN-World Bank Interim
Working Group (IWG) on Large Dams. This issue describes the progress of
the Interim Working Groups since October 1997 to establish the World
Commission on Dams. Since October 1997 the IWG held an unscheduled
fourth meeting in January in Cape Town, South Africa to discuss the
composition of the Commission. The Commission was launched in Cape Town
on February 16th, and the 11 Commissioners in addition to Kader Asmal,
the chair, were announced. For those that did not receive it, the third
issue is also attached. Additional information about the evolution of the
Commission is available on our web site:
http://iucn.org/themes/wcd/
If you would like us to remove you from our distribution list, please
contact us (dams@iucnus.org). Otherwise, we will assume that you would
like to continue to receive updates of the Interim Working Group's
progress. Please accept our apologies if you have already received an
electronic copy of the update.
Kindest Regards,
Derek Stanfill
Database Manager
Interim Secretariat
World Commission on Dams
*********************************
LARGE DAMS REVIEW UPDATE
A Briefing of the Interim Working Group of the IUCN/World Bank Joint
Initiative on Large Dams
Issue No. 4, 8 April 1998
__________________________________________________________________________
______________
This is the fourth edition of the Large Dams Review Update, an occasional
briefing of the Interim Working Group Secretariat for the World
Bank/IUCN-The World Conservation Union joint initiative on large dams. In
April 1997 IUCN and the World Bank jointly hosted a two day workshop in
Gland, Switzerland, which concluded that it was important to establish an
international commission with a two year mandate to review the
development effectiveness of large dams and their alternatives, and to
develop standards, criteria, and guidelines to advise future decision
making. An Interim Working Group, established by the workshop
participants, has been working since June 1997 to facilitate the
establishment of the Commission.
SELECTION OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
The Chair of the WCD, Professor Kader Asmal, has named Achim Steiner to
be the Secretary-General of the recently launched Commission. Steiner,
an experienced official of the German technical assistance agency, GTZ,
is currently serving as Chief Technical Advisor to the Mekong River
Commission in Southeast Asia. Asmal stated that Steiner would be
launching the Secretariat by the end of April.
The World Commission on Dams, a distinguished panel named in early 1998
to review the development experience of dams and their alternatives, and
then to recommend standards for the water and power sectors, is the
product of an unprecedented partnership between the opponents and
advocates of large dams. The major controversies of the last decade over
particular dam projects have virtually brought the industry to a
standstill.
The momentum to establish the Commission was launched in early 1997 by
the heads of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, and the World Conservation
Union - IUCN, David McDowell, in order to create an objective and
influential body to review the record and come up with advice for all the
participants in the impasse over dams.
Steiner will oversee a work program for the next two years from the
headquarters of the Commission in Cape Town, South Africa, where Asmal
also serves as the Minister for Water Affairs and Forestry. Steiner
reports to Asmal and a Commission of eleven members, whose names were
provided in Large Dams Review Update No. 3. Their consensus report is
due to be presented publicly in June 2000.
In addition to his background with GTZ in a range of technical and policy
capacities in Pakistan and the headquarters in Germany, Steiner worked
with the World Conservation Union as Senior Policy Advisor in Washington,
DC, as the Programme Coordinator in southern Africa, and as the first
coordinator for the WCD initiative in 1997. He was educated in Brazil
and Germany, and obtained his university and postgraduate education in
Oxford, London, Berlin and Harvard.
FIRST MEETING OF THE COMMISSION
On May 22-23, 1998 the World Commission on Dams will be hold its first
meeting in Washington, D.C. The Members of the Commission will discuss
and adopt a work plan for the two-year life of the Commission, and
develop a process for full stakeholder involvement in the work of the
Commission and the Secretariat.
For more information about the
World Commission on Dams
please contact:
Interim Secretariat
IUCN-The World Conservation Union
1400 16th Street, NW, Suite 502
Washington, DC 20036, USA
Tel: (202) 797-5454
Fax: (202) 797-5461
Email: dams@iucnus.org
http://iucn.org/themes/wcd/
LARGE DAMS REVIEW UPDATE
A Briefing of the Interim Working Group of the IUCN/World Bank Joint
Initiative on Large Dams
Issue No. 3
February 18, 1998
This is the third edition of the Large Dams Review Update, an occasional
briefing of the Interim Working Group Secretariat for the World
Bank/IUCN-The World Conservation Union joint initiative on large dams. In
April 1997 IUCN and the World Bank jointly hosted a two day workshop in
Gland, Switzerland to discuss the findings of a World Bank internal
review on large dams and the implications for a more in-depth study. The
workshop participants represented a diverse group of interests from
around the world, including private industry, the international financial
institutions, and civil society organizations.
A major conclusion of the workshop was to establish an international
commission with a two year mandate to review the development
effectiveness of large dams and to develop standards, criteria, and
guidelines to advise future decision making. An Interim Working Group,
established by the workshop participants, has been working since June
1997 to facilitate the establishment of the Commission.
In This Issue
Fourth Meeting of the IWG
Launch of the Commission
Preparatory Work of the Commission
Recruitment of the Secretary-General and Staff
FOURTH MEETING OF THE IUCN/WORLD BANK INTERIM WORKING GROUP
The IUCN/World Bank Interim Working Group (IWG) held an unscheduled
fourth meeting in Cape Town, South Africa on January 24-25. Five members
of the original group of workshop participants were invited to attend the
IWG meeting to solicit their input into a final list of Commission
members. In Cape Town, the IWG addressed the criteria for the
composition of the Commission and recommended a list of Commission
members.
It was agreed that the Commission should be:
* composed of eminent persons with appropriate expertise and experience
* widely regarded as having integrity and being objective
* independent and representative of the diversity of perspectives
including affected regions, communities and private and public sectors.
Based on these criteria, the IWG recommended the following list of
Commissioners:
Professor Kader Asmal
Ministry of Water Affairs and Forestry
Republic of South Africa
Donald J. Blackmore
Chief Executive
Murray-Darling Basin Commission
Joji Carino
Executive Secretary
International Alliance of Indigenous-Tribal Peoples of the Tropical
Forest
José Goldemberg
Professor
University of Sao Paulo
Judy Henderson
Chair
Oxfam International
Laxmi Chand Jain
High Commissioner to South Africa
Republic of India
Goran Lindahl
President and CEO
ABB Asea Brown Boveri, Ltd.
Deborah Moore
Senior Scientist
Environmental Defense Fund
Medha Patkar
Founder
Struggle to Save the Narmada River
Wolfgang Pircher
Honorary President
International Commission on Large Dams
Thayer Scudder
Professor of Anthropology
California Institute of Technology
Shen Guoyi
Director-General
Department of International Cooperation
Ministry of Water Resources
People's Republic of China
WCD Secretary-General, ex-officio
Participants in the Cape Town meeting agreed that these individuals would
provide an appropriate balance and eminence for the Commission.
Professor Asmal announced his intention to propose L.C. Jain as
Commission Vice Chair. In early February, David McDowell, Director
General of IUCN, and James Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank Group,
formally endorsed these individuals to serve as Commissioners.
LAUNCH OF THE COMMISSION
On February 16th the World Commission on Dams was formally launched in
Cape Town, South Africa. The event included video-taped speeches by James
Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank, and David McDowell, Director
General of IUCN. Professor Kader Asmal publicly announced the names of
the Commission Members.
RECRUITMENT OF SECRETARY GENERAL & STAFF
The Chair is consulting widely on candidates for Secretary General, and
will develop a short list for interviews in mid-March. Following the
selection of the Secretary General, the rest of the Secretariat's
professional staff will be chosen. Potential candidates for positions in
the Secretariat should submit letters and C.V.'s to the Interim
Secretariat as soon as possible.
PREPARATORY WORK OF THE COMMISSION
Prior to the first planned meeting of the Commission in May, the
Commission members and the Secretariat will be developing options for the
decisions on the work plan. As envisioned, the Commission will be
identifying the following over the next few months:
* possible case studies of dam and river basin management projects as
well as national case studies
* possible topics for expert panels and resource groups
* possible areas for seminars, consultations and hearings
* an extended constituency to include private financiers, environmental
scientists, and others not yet represented in the Reference Group.
* proposals for procedures to make the Commission work most efficiently
and to make the Commission process as inclusive as possible.
The Secretariat will be working closely with Commission members to
develop these options, but it also welcomes suggestions from the broader
constituencies. The Commission will come to the first meeting in May
ready to decide on options, and to set the review of dams in motion
immediately. The work plan still calls for a two-year effort, with the
final report due in June 2000
.
The issue of obtaining full funding for the Commission's budget of US$8.4
million will require approaches to a range of donors (governments, the
private sector, multilateral organisations, and foundations). One-third
of the total is already committed, with the remainder needed before June.
For more information about the
World Commission on Dams
please contact:
IWG Secretariat
IUCN-The World Conservation Union
Washington Office
1400 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036, USA
Tel: (202) 797-5454
Fax: (202) 797-5461
Email: dams@iucnus.org
http://iucn.org/themes/wcd/
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