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dam-l LS: WCD Regional Consultation: call for subs

Dear colleagues

I am writing to inform you that the World Commission on Dams has put out a
call for submissions to its East and South-East Asia Regional Consultation
in Vietnam in February 2000. The Regional Consultation provides a good
opportunity for East and South-East Asian NGOs and People’s Organizations
to contribute to our knowledge base of the impacts of large dams, and to
increase the commission’s awareness of the problems with large dams in
Asia. The WCD is accepting two-page submission summaries until December 15,
1999. If you are selected by the commission to give a presentation at the
regional consultation, you will get an all-expenses paid trip to Vietnam on
February 25-26, 2000.

The World Commission on Dams was launched in February 1998 following a year
of negotiations between dam-affected people's movements, NGOs, the World
Bank and the dam industry -- and of course also after many years of
struggles against dams. The aim of the WCD is to examine the development
effectiveness of large dams, to review alternatives, and to come up with a
set of criteria and guidelines for future dam construction, operation and
decommissioning, and guidelines on water and energy planning in general.
The commission will also be considering the issues of reparations for
dam-affected people and restoration of ecosystems.

The WCD has already held two regional consultations: one in Brazil (Latin
America) and one in Sri Lanka (South Asia). The Africa and Middle East
regional consultation will be held in Cairo in December. NGOs have found
the consultations to be a unique chance to give first-hand testimony about
their experiences with dams, as well as an excellent opportunity to meet
with other dam critics in the region to share experiences and ideas.

All you need to do is prepare a two page summary of your proposed
presentation which can be on any relevant aspect of large dams, including
social and environmental impacts, energy issues including alternative
energy, water conservation, legal aspects, river basin management,
economics, process issues, gender issues etc. Please send your submissions
directly to the WCD (submission@dams.org) and a copy to IRN
(aviva@irn.org). The deadline is December 15, 1999. SUBMISSIONS ARE
ACCEPTED IN ANY LANGUAGE.

The official Call for Submissions is pasted below this email. If you are
interested in more information about the WCD, go to www.irn.org (IRN’s web
site) or www.dams.org (official WCD website). Copies of submissions to
other public hearings are available on the WCD website.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require further information
or assistance, and please forward this notice to other interested people. 

Thank you very much,

Aviva Imhof
South-East Asia Campaigner
International Rivers Network

____________________________

WORLD COMMISSION ON DAMS

     Call For Submissions:
     Please note that the closing date for submissions has been extended to 15
     December, 1999.

     Large Dams and their alternatives in East and South-East Asia:
     Experiences and Lessons Learned
     (This region includes countries to the East of Bangladesh and up to
Indonesia in the South, and
     Northwards as far as Korea:  Brunei,  China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea
DR, Republic of Korea, Lao People's DR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Myammar, Cambodia)


     Fourth Regional Consultation of the World Commission on Dams

     Introduction:

     The World Commission on Dams has held to date two successful public
consultations as part of its
     mandate to receive inputs that inform its work programme.
Consultations are one element of a
     comprehensive research programme and aim to provide the Commission
with an open forum for
     listening to all interested parties in the debate. The first South
Asia consultation was held in Sri
     Lanka in December 1998, the second consultation on Latin America, in
Brazil in August 1999. Both
     drew large numbers of participants comprising presenters, observers
and the media. In all, four
     regional consultations are planned during the life of the Commission.
The third consultation is planned
     for December 1999 in Cairo, Egypt. WCD's fourth and last consultation
will focus on the experiences
     and lessons learnt with dams, water and energy development across East
and South East Asia. It is
     scheduled to be held on February 25-26, 2000; the WCD is in discussion
on potential locations.

     The World Commission on Dams (WCD) is an independent, international
commission constituted
     under the auspices of a wide array of representatives from
governments, civil society, the private
     sector and international organizations. 

     Professor Kader Asmal, Minister of Education for the Republic of South
Africa, is the appointed chair
     of the WCD and is joined by eleven other distinguished individuals
from across the globe.

     The WCD's key objectives are to conduct a global review of the
development effectiveness of large
     dams; formulate an options assessments and decision making framework
for the sustainable
     management of water and energy resources; and propose a set of
internationally acceptable criteria
     and guidelines for the planning, appraisal, design, construction,
operation, monitoring and
     decommissioning of large dams. The guiding principles of the WCD are
openness, transparency,
     inclusiveness and accessibility. 

     The Regional Consultation: The Regional Consultation for East and
South East Asia is being
     convened to assist the Commission in fulfilling its mandate by
achieving the following goals: 

          invite a broad range of interested parties to participate in and
inform the WCD's work 
          facilitate the public exchange of ideas and views among various
constituencies in the region 
          provide the Commissioners with an opportunity to develop a shared
knowledge base.

     The composition of panels and presentations at the consultation aims
to achieve diversity in regional
     representation as well as from the various interested groups involved
in the debate over large dams
     and sustainable water and energy management. Given the neutral and
independent nature of the
     Commission, the WCD will welcome presentations from government,
private sector and civil society
     sectors reflecting a diversity of interests, perspectives and experiences.

     Invitations for Presentations: The WCD invites all interested persons
to submit proposals for
     presentations related to the key objectives outlined above, focusing
on the experiences and lessons
     learnt locally, nationally, or regionally across East and South East
Asia. The following themes are
     proposed as a preliminary framework for developing submissions;
however flexibility will be maintained
     in receiving submissions that do not fall within these themes:

     1. Large Dams in East & South East Asia: 
          A Review of Benefits and Impacts 

     2. Decision-making and the Planning Process: 
          Responding to Competing Needs 

     3. Changing Institutional and Policy Frameworks: 
          Their Influence on Current Practice 

     4. Dams and Water Resource Management: 
          Reviewing Options 

     The Commission welcomes papers that specifically focus on providing
the WCD with a learning
     perspective on: past experience in large dams (economic, environmental
and social), multi-criteria
     approaches in planning, participation, tools for implementation,
regulatory structures and incentive
     frameworks, and examples of best practice in all of the above. In
addition to thematic panels, one or
     two country panels may be constituted based on the submissions received.

     A two-page summary of the proposed presentation, preferably in
English, is requested for no later
     than December 15, 1999. Selection for presentations will be based on
the relevance of the topic,
     quality of submission and experience/expertise of presenter. Those
selected will be invited to make
     their presentations during proceedings that are designed as a formal
dialogue between presenters and
     members of the Commission. Full papers for those selected should be
sent to the Commission by
     January 15, 2000. 

     Invitation for General Submissions:

     In addition to proposals for presentation at the consultation,
submissions (not for presentation at the
     consultation) of materials documenting the experiences and lessons
learnt are also encouraged.
     These submissions can be prepared in written, audio, video or other
format.

     For further information:

     Please contact Saneeya Hussain at phone: ++27 21 426 4000, fax: ++27
21 426 0036, or email:
     shussain@dams.org;
     Submissions may be sent directly to submission@dams.org. 
     For general enquiries on the Commission e-mail: info@dams.org. 

     Interested parties can also visit the WCD web-site,
http://www.dams.org/ or write to the Commission
     Secretariat at:

     World Commission on Dams
     5th Floor Hycastle House
     58, Loop Street
     PO Box: 16002, 
     Vlaeberg, 8018
     Cape Town
     SOUTH AFRICA 





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Aviva Imhof
South-East Asia Campaigner
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley CA 94703 USA
Tel: + 1 510 848 1155 (ext. 312), Fax: + 1 510 848 1008
Email: aviva@irn.org, Web: http://www.irn.org
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