THE YEAR 2000 CAMPAIGN
TO REDIRECT WORLD MILITARY SPENDING TO HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
TO: Endorsing Organization of the Year 2000 Campaign to Redirect World Military Spending to Human Development.
FROM: Pamela Richardson, Campaign Coordinator
DATE: March 28, 1996
RE: Meeting at the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
On March 27, David Isenberg (Center for Defense Information), Jim Matlack
(American Friends
Service Committee), Caleb Rossiter (Demilitarization for Democracy), John Terzanno
(Vietnam
Veterans of America Foundation), Joe Volk (Friends Committee on National
Legislation) and I met
with Ambassador Ralph Earle, Deputy Director to John Holum, director of the U.S.
Arms Control
and Disarmament Agency to present the campaign plan and ask for the
administration's support.
We expressed our appreciation of ACDA's role as a proponent of arms control with in
the United
States government and our disappointment with ACDA's recent performance in one
area -- its
opposition to the campaign to ban landmines. We highlighted the 6 proposals from
the campaign,
using the expertise of the delegation. Ambassador Earle was very receptive and
favorable to the
overall plan. He pointed out that NGOs have much influence pushing issues in
today's world. He
applauded the fact that foreign as well as domestic NGOs are pushing the initiative.
Ambassador Earle suggested that we should consider using regional organizations
such as ASEAN
or OAS complementing the United Nations. He added the plan might be accepted
more readily
coming from regional actors than from the United Sates. He thought we should do a
cost analysis
of the proposal for special envoys to see if the plan is feasible. He thought we should
do a cost
analysis of the proposal for special envoys to see if the plan is feasible. He
suggested that we try
to set up a voluntary fund to which countries could donate, so that money will not be
taken out of
the U.N. regular budget, since the U.N. is in a financial crisis.
Furthermore, he thanked NGOs for supporting ACDA and its efforts, which he asked
the groups to
continue to do.
If you have any questions about the meeting please contact me.
CONTACT:
Pamela Richardson, Campaign Coordinator
Demilitarization for Democracy
1601 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Suite 6000
Washington, D.C. 20009
202-319-7191 phone
202-319-7194/0937 fax
pdd@clark.net e-mail
http://www.fas.org/pub/gen/mswg/year2000/
Networking Project * Organizations * Proposition One