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MID-2004-2005 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
International Law and Justice
UN Reform
United Nations Emergency Peace Service (UNEPS)
U.S. Global Engagement
Stop Bolton Campaign
CGS at the Community of Democracies
2005 Congressional Report Card
Flash Video Contest
Global Resolutions 2005
Citizens for Global Solutions in the News
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International Law and Justice
• For the past year, we have raised awareness of the genocide in Darfur,
Sudan and educated the public about the need for an ICC prosecution. In
January 2005, our President, Charles J. Brown, who was a member of the
U.S. delegation to the ICC negotiations, sent a letter (which we
publicized in the media) to President Bush calling on him to support
referral.
• In February, we wrote two briefing papers, Options for
Accountability in Sudan and The ICC and Sudan, which were
both circulated to key audiences, including NGOs, policymakers,
Congressional staff and the media.
• In February and March, we organized a “Radio Tour” of key U.S. states
in which Citizens for Global Solutions staff appeared on 25 different
national and local radio programs, mostly during drive time, to discuss
the Darfur genocide and the need for a referral to the ICC.
• On March 9, in collaboration with eight other prominent organizations,
we sent a letter to the Security Council commenting on the latest draft
resolution before the Council and calling for stronger action. This
ad-hoc group followed up the letter less than two weeks later by
suggesting language for a stronger draft resolution that included an ICC
referral. Thanks in part to our work the U.S. abstained during the UN
Security Council vote to refer the situation to the ICC in March, a
dramatic shift in policy.
• On March 31, we coordinated the visit of ICC President Philippe Kirsch
to Washington, DC. We organized a meeting between President Kirsch and
Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA) and a staff briefing by President Kirsch
through the Human Rights Caucus that was attended by approximately 25
staff from Congressional offices. We will be hosting President Kirsch
again in September.
• In April, we hosted the Washington, D.C. premiere of a WITNESS film
and a subsequent panel discussion on sexual exploitation, child
soldiers, and prospects for international justice in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC). Over 100 people attended the film and reception
at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars.
UN Reform
• Working with the Stanley Foundation and the UN Foundation’s ‘Better
World Campaign’, we created UN21, a coalition of organizations
advocating for constructive UN reform. Through regular conference calls
and a list serv that we host, Citizens for Global Solutions is leading
the discussion on how to understand and respond to UN reform proposals
such as the High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges, and Change, Kofi
Annan’s report, In Larger Freedom, the USIP Gingrich-Mitchell Task
Force, and numerous UN reform bills in Congress.
• In September 2004, Citizens for Global Solutions co-hosted a
discussion on the High Level Panel featuring one of its members, former
Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans.
• In December 2004, we co-hosted a panel featuring our own UN reform
expert, Executive Vice President Don Kraus, to discuss the findings of
the High Level Panel. Furthermore, Citizens for Global Solutions hosted
a successful retreat with the Stanley Foundation, focused on messaging
on the report of the Secretary General’s panel on Threats, Challenges,
and Change.
United Nations Emergency Peace Service (UNEPS)
• Citizens for Global Solutions helped craft proposals for UNEPS, which
would help prevent early stage crises, whether caused by violent
conflict or natural phenomenon, from escalating into national or
regional disasters. Working with other organizations to develop and
promote the UNEPS concept, we have led the effort at the grassroots
level, in the media, in Washington, and with like-minded groups around
the world.
• In February 2005, Executive Vice President Don Kraus attended a
meeting in Cuenta, Spain to further develop the proposal and generate
support from other organizations. In part because of our efforts,
Representatives Albert Wynn (D-MD) and James Leach (R-IA) introduced
legislation to establish UNEPS this year.
U.S. Global Engagement
• The new U.S. in the World guide, published by the Rockefeller
Brothers Foundation, and the Aspen Institute's Global Interdependence
Initiative, is an important tool in helping proponents of cooperative
U.S. global engagement make their case to the U.S. public. Citizens for
Global Solutions, with the assistance of the Rockefeller Brothers
Foundation, has conducted trainings on the guide with our nationwide
network of grassroots partners groups, citizens groups and foreign
affairs professionals.
• On May 6, 2005, Citizens for Global Solutions in collaboration with
The Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at American University
Washington College of Law convened a workshop to explore how to most
effectively talk with the public about human rights issues. This
full-day interactive session involved advocates from over 15
organizations with interests as diverse as immigration policy,
environmental protection, penal reform, religious action, homelessness,
issues related to the Holocaust, and human rights in general.
• The Senate's failure to ratify the United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which enjoyed broad bipartisan support,
illustrates the increasingly frequent problems that proponents of
cooperative U.S. engagement in the international system have in making
their case on Capitol Hill. In light of this, Citizens for Global
Solutions, with support from the Connect US Fund, is coordinating an
effort to develop a new framework for talking about treaties and
international institutions with Congress.
Stop Bolton Campaign
• Immediately following the nomination of John Bolton as UN Ambassador
on May 7, 2005, Citizens for Global Solutions launched the Stop Bolton
campaign to illustrate the critical nature of the U.S.-UN relationship,
show the need for effective UN reform, and make the case that John
Bolton is the wrong man for the job. Our Stop Bolton campaign and
www.stopbolton.org was featured
in over 75 newspaper articles, aired on 40 radio stations, written about
in well over 100 blogs and 80 internet news sites.
• In addition, Citizens for Global Solutions ran 21 television and 31
radio advertisements in key states such as Nebraska, Pennsylvania and
Rhode Island. Our efforts helped generate hundreds of phone calls placed
to Congressional offices and over 21,000 signatories for a petition
campaign against John Bolton’s nomination.
CGS at the Community of Democracies
• As one of only 10 NGOs invited to sit at the negotiating table during
this spring’s meeting in Santiago, Chile of over 100 governments in the
Community of Democracies, Citizens for Global Solutions President
Charles J. Brown was able to influence negotiations to identify
acceptable standards of behavior for democracies in the international
arena.
2005 Congressional Report Card
• Each year Citizens for Global Solutions publishes our Congressional
Report Card which lets you know how Senators and Representatives voted
on legislation that affects the United Nations, the proliferation of
nuclear weapons, the global environment, global health, and other
international issues and institutions. This year’s Report Card has been
covered in the wide-read Capitol Hill magazine, The Hill, as well as
multiple regional papers and internet sites.
hill/reportcard/">+ Click here to
view the 2005 Report Card
Flash Video Contest
• In fall 2004 Citizens for Global Solutions launched an innovative
contest, asking youth to use Flash technology to develop short, online
movies that gave their solution to a pressing global problem. Over 3,000
people, almost all of them under 30, registered for the contest and
joined our e-advocacy list. We received more than one hundred flash
video submissions. The competition has been covered in local and
national publications, and we have been asked to share our techniques
for conducting flash video contests by MTV’s Rock the Vote.
+ Click here to view the flash videos
Global Resolutions 2005
• From November 2004 through February 2005, Citizens for Global
Solutions chapters participated in an exciting project to communicate
with their communities and elected leaders about the need for
cooperative U.S. global engagement. The project involved developing and
placing advertisements about our issues – addressed to their
Representatives and Senators -- in local newspapers. Over 200 members
participated in crafting and voting on the resolutions. Twenty three
groups in thirteen states participated in the project, and the ads ran
in forty papers a total of forty-four times.
programs/glob_engage/resolutions.html">
+ Click here to view the resolutions
Citizens for Global Solutions in the News
• Over the past year, Citizens for Global Solutions has appeared on
seven international news television programs including CSPAN, CNN, BBC,
CNN International and NBC Meet the Press.
• Furthermore, Citizens for Global Solutions appeared in over 121
newspapers including such major regional and national papers as The
Washington Post, The Financial Times, The San Francisco Chronicle,
Reuters and United Press International.
+ CLICK HERE FOR MOST
RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
+ CLICK HERE FOR 2004
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Updated February 10, 2006
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