Financing: Camdessus report lacks pro-poor focus

Updated - Monday 24 March 2003

The final report of the World Panel on Financing Water Infrastructure [1] contains "too little on what is needed to reach the poor and the poorest of the poor", said Sir Richard Jolly, chairman of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC). Michel Camdessus, chairman of the Panel, presented the report at the 3rd World Water Forum in Japan. Ms. Agnes Van Ardenne-Van der Hoeven, the Dutch minister for Development Cooperation, told journalists at the Forum that the report was "disappointing" and "not balanced ... not concrete" with too much focus on large scale infrastructure, adding that "we need to look at small- and medium-scale infrastructure". While the report's focus was on water and sanitation services, the minister stated that irrigation and water ecosystems also deserved attention. Indian environmental activist Vandana Shiva echoed the views of a number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) denouncing the report as "a recipe for privatization of water" and "a pretext to allow transnational companies to enter the water service with favourable conditions like currency guarantees and risk-safeguards for investors". One such NGO, Public Services International (PSI), has presented alternative financing options in a new report [2]. Mr Camdessus said the report had been misinterpreted. "If you read it carefully, there is not a single word on privatization in this report,'' he added. On the contrary, the report called for drastic change in accountability and transparency and capacity-building in the public utility sector.

[1] Winpenny, J. (2003). Financing water for all : report of the World Panel on Financing Water Infrastructure. Marseille, France : World Water Council. x, 54 p. : boxes, fig., panels, tab. - Includes references. ISBN 9295017013. http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/download/Camdes...
[2] Hall, D. (2003). Financing water for the world : an alternative to guaranteed profits. London, UK : Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU), University of Greenwich. http://www.psiru.org/reports/2003-03-W-finance.d...

Contact: Financing Water Infrastructure Panel, c/o Soren Bauer, World Water Council, s.bauer@worldwatercouncil.org, http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/financing_water... ; David Hall, Director, PSIRU, d.j.hall@gre.ac.uk, http://www.psiru.org/

Source: Bangkok Post, 23 Mar 2003
IPS / Manila Times, 23 Mar 2003
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Speeches / Statements, 21 Mar 2003