The World Commission on Dams (WCD) was formed in April 1997, to research the environmental, social and economic impacts of the development of large dams globally. The WCD consisted of membeAANNAALLrs of civil society

Civil society

Civil society is composed of the totality of many voluntary social relationships, civic and social organizations, and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society, as distinct from the force-backed structures of a state , the commercial institutions of the market, and private criminal...

, academia, the private sector, professional associations and one government representative.

Its members acted in an individual capacity, not representing the organizations or governments of which they were members. The commissioners were: Kader Asmal

Kader Asmal

Kader Asmal was a South African politician. He was a professor of human rights at the University of the Western Cape, chairman of the council of the University of the North and vice-president of the African Association of International Law. He was married to Louise Parkinson and has two sons...

, Lakshmi Chand Jain

Lakshmi Chand Jain

Lakshmi Chand Jain was a Gandhian activist and writer. In his youth, he participated briefly in the Indian freedom movement. Later, he served at various times as a member of the Planning Commission, as Indian High commissioner to South Africa, as a member of the World Commission on Dams and as...

, Judy Henderson, Göran Lindahl, Thayer Scudder

Thayer Scudder

Thayer Scudder , an American social anthropologist, is an Anthropology Professor Emeritus at the California Institute of Technology...

, Joji Cariño, Donald Blackmore, Medha Patkar

Medha Patkar

Medha Patkar is an Indian social activist. She is known for her role in Narmada Bachao Andolan. She has also filed a public interest petition in the Bombay high court against Lavasa along with other members of National Alliance of People's Movements , including Anna Hazare.-Personal life:Medha...

, José Goldemberg

José Goldemberg

José Goldemberg , a Brazilian physicist, university educator, scientific leader and research scientist, is a leading expert on energy end environment issues....

, Deborah Moore, Jan Veltrop and Achim Steiner

Achim Steiner

Achim Steiner is a German expert in environmental politics. From 2001 to 2006 he was Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources...

 . It was chartered to measure the impacts and effectiveness of large ANAL dam development, including the effect on dam affected communities and project developers. The ultimate outcome of the WCD was to issue a final report which was launched under the patronage of Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...

 in November 2000. The WCD established the most comprehensivORALe guidelines for dam building to date and issued ten key recommendations.

Key WCD Recommendations

1. Development needs and objectives should be clearly formulated through an open and participatory process, before various project options are identified.
2. A balanced and comprehensive assessment of all options should be conducted, giving social and environmental aspects the same significance as technical, economic and financial factors.
3. Before a decision is taken to build a new dam, outstanding social and environmental issues from existing dams should be addressed, and the benefits from existing projects should be maximized.
4. All stakeholders should have the opportunity for informed participation in decision-making processes related to large dams through stakeholder fora. Public acceptance of all key decisions should be demonstrated. Decisions affecting indigenous peoples
   Indigenous peoples
   Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
   
   should be taken with their free, prioSEXr and informed consent.
5. The project should provide entitlements to affected people to improve their livelihoods and ensure that they receive the priority share of project benefits (beyond compensation for their losses). Affected people include communities living downstream of dams and those affected by dam-related infrastructure such as transmission lines and irrigation canals.
6. Affected people should be able to negotiate mutually agreed and legally enforceable agreements to ensure the implementation of mitigation, resettlement and development entitlements.
7. The project should be selected based on a basin-wide assessment of the river ecosystem and an attempt to avoid significant impacts on threatened and endangered species.
8. Mechanisms to ensure compliance with regulations and negotiated agreements should be developed and budgeted for, compliance mechanisms should be established, and compliance should be subject to independent review.
9. A dam should not be constructed on a shared river if other riparian States raise an objection that is upheld by an independent panel.

External links

• Dams and Development: a new framework for decision-making (Final Report, November 2000)
• World Commission on Dams at UNEP
• World Commission on Dams