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Contributions from
the Column
Facts and trends
Water: Multi-stakeholder dialogue does not take off
World Bank: Wolfowitz to succeed Wolfensohn
Donors delay aid for Sudan
Afghanistan: Still torn apart
EU parliament opposed to sugar reform
Indicators for more effective aid
Honour killings – an underestimated crime
Supachai Panitchpakdi to head UNCTAD?
IDA 14: More money for the poorest countries
Somalia: Government is looking for a residence
Haiti: Hopelessness
04/2005
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[ Water supply ]
Multi-stakeholder dialogue does not take off
The planned international multi-stakeholder dialogue on water provision is not gaining momentum until now due to problems in finding financial backers. At a meeting in Berlin last summer, representatives of state agencies, non-governmental organisations, companies, governments and multilateral institutions agreed to start the dialogue. A working group was commissioned to find financiers (see D+C 2004:8/9, p. 314). This has happened only partially yet. Germany’s Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul had proposed the dialogue at the Fresh Water Conference in Bonn in 2001, in order to provide the debate on the participation of private companies in supplying water with a more objective base.
Some donor countries are clearly interested in the dialogue, but they are waiting for other donors to speak up before making any financial pledges. The working group says no one wants to take the first step. Several potential donors are worried that the dialogue could grow into a huge, expensive event as the World Commission on Dams did – and in the end, produce scanty results. The German Development Ministry, which financed the preparation processes over a good two years, already said after the Berlin symposium last year that the concept of the dialogue had to be scaled down. Originally, several national dialogues were planned, the results of which were to have been brought together at an international level. German Development Ministry official Annette van Edig says that the Ministry is still prepared to contribute to the costs. She suggests that the donors and the working group should start discussions on a realistic concept afresh.
The working group maintains that until today pledges were made to finance at least two national dialogues: in South Africa and Brazil. In addition, the Australian government had announced to contribute to dialogues in Indonesia and the Philippines. So far, there have been no pledges from companies, political foundations or other civil society organisations. Only the RWE Thameswater Group has participated in the transition period since the symposium in Berlin. On the other hand, Heinrich Böll Foundation points out that it has not received any official request for funds yet.
Apparently, there are also disagreements concerning the content of the dialogue – even within the working group. It was decided in Berlin to not only deal with the role of private companies, but to also tackle the question of what problems there are with public suppliers and how they could be resolved. Public Services International, an international trade union represented in the working group, reportedly declared itself against doing so. It looks like the trade unions are afraid that such an enquiry could lead to the recommendation to privatise inefficient public suppliers. (ell)
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