Please respond by no later than February 20, 2001, but the sooner, the better!
1. Main Goals
Since we began in the mid 1990s, the USCBL has had three goals -to get the United States to:
Please explain.
2. What do you think our strategies should be for reaching these goals? Please check all strategies you support.
3. What tactics do you think will be most effective? Separately in each category, please rank all tactics you support (1 being the most important). Indicate support for as many tactics as you'd like. Please also put a check after the tactics you or your organization would be able to help accomplish.
Elite Advocacy Tactics In the first column, rank each tactic you support. (1 being most important, 5 being least important.) In the second column, put a check after each tactic you or your organization would be able to accomplish.
Media Tactics In the first column, rank each tactic you support. (1 being most important, 5 being least important.) In the second column, put a check after each tactic you or your organization would be able to accomplish.
Bi-weekly e-mail newsletter with action alerts, updates, spotlights on local campaigns, etc. articles, opinion editorials, and letters to the editor in key states' papers.
Other Tactics In the first column, rank each tactic you support. (1 being most important, 5 being least important.) In the second column, put a check after each tactic you or your organization would be able to accomplish.
4. Political Objectives Having failed to get the United States to join the treaty for a number of years, the USCBL Steering Committee made a strategic decision in the middle of 2000 to ask the President to take a number of steps towards joining the treaty, in short of actually joining the treaty. These steps included those listed below. Please rank the nine steps listed below 1-5 in terms of dates that you think we could achieve these goals in? For each step, pick a year from either 2001, 2002, 2003 or 2004 Rank Year
Set a definitive and earlier deadline for joining the treaty, rather than a conditional objective of 2006.
Please check which one of the following that applies: Yes, I think that it makes strategic sense to ask the President to join the treaty, but to take specific steps towards treaty compliance in the meantime. No, I think that it hurts our campaign goal of full participation in the treaty to ask for incremental steps. Yes, I think it makes strategic sense to ask the President to join the treaty, but to take specific steps towards treaty compliance in the meantime. I recommend adding the following steps in addition:
By what year (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004) do you think we could achieve the following?: Join the treaty. Ratify the treaty in the Senate. Increase resources for victim assistance. Increase resources for mine removal.
5. Humanitarian Objectives
In President Clinton’s term in office, the U.S. increased its humanitarian mine action and victim assistance contributions to mine affected countries across the world, contributing more than $300 million dollars in this period.
While individual mine action NGOs who are members of the USCBL advocate for increased and sustained funds for humanitarian mine action, should the USCBL as a coalition place more attention to this call for increased mine action resources?
What other actions could the USCBL take to support the call for increased and sustained mine action spending? Rank the following that you agree with (1 most agree, 5 least agree):
Choose between the following: The USCBL should as a coalition engage in these above actions ? This should be left to the individual member NGOs to work on?
6. Timeline
The Steering Committee, and many others, recognizes that we must be more strategic in our planning of events and activities so that our work reinforces and builds upon what has come before and leads us to where we want to go and is coordinated with the overall work of the campaign. In planning, it would be useful to keep in mind the following dates of major events or anniversaries.
Please place a check next to the idea(s) you list that you think you or your organization would be able to help accomplish.Under each event or date, please list any idea(s) that you think would be strategic to organize in conjuction with that date or event.
7. National/Regional Events
The USCBL held its first national conference/lobbying event in Washington DC in July 2000 attended by 100 campaigners from 29 states. In March, the next meeting will be held with roughly 200 people from nearly every state.
Should these national meetings continue to be held yearly? Yes or No
Should they be held regionally instead of nationally (non DC events would be more for training, education, and media rather than federal lobbying)? Yes or No
How often and where?
Would your organization be willing to host such a meeting in your town? Please note that this entails significant effort! Yes or No
8. Campaign Coordination
By the beginning of 1996, some 70-NGOs had endorsed the USCBL’s goals and thus become members of the USCBL coalition. By 1998, there were 300 members. Currently there are more than 500 endorsing-NGOs. In addition, the U.S. coalition now includes campaign contacts in almost every state of the United States, from Alaska to Maine. Some of these are individuals while others represent constituencies including schools and churches. However, there are only a handful of actual state campaigns (like the Minnesota Campaign to Ban Landmines).
Should we work to cultivate more and bigger state campaigns? Yes or No
Comments:
How can we strengthen the communication among state campaigns, individuals, and the national campaign headquarters? Please check all that apply. National Calendar in the e-mail newsletter. More information about state campaigns on the website. Conferences and trainings for state leaders. Other. Please explain.
How can communication be improved among the Coordinator, the Steering Committee and the Grassroots membership? Please check all that apply. E-mail listserves. Weekly e-mail updates. Monthly Steering Committee minutes e-mailed on e-mail newsletter. Better resources available to grassroots participants (we now have petitions, advocacy kits, toolkits for action, bumper stickers, and posters; please list other resources you think would be useful). Other. Please explain.
9. Steering Committee
Membership in the Steering Committee of the USCBL has developed over time to reflect changes in the coalition. Currently there are fifteen NGOs on the Steering Committee:
Steering Committee membership attempts to balance organizations that represent the ‘three pillars’ of the work of the ICBL, as well as organizations that represent the diverse and unique constituency of the coalition overall. There is an attempt to retain organizations with 'institutional memory' of the work of the USCBL, as well as to bring fresh perspectives to the work. The Steering Committee is responsible for discussing and deciding upon campaign strategies and tactics. It is up to the coordinating organization to implement these strategies and tactics, with help from the Steering Committee and the grassroots.
Would your NGO be willing to join the Steering Committee? Yes or No
Please note that Steering Committee members are expected to have:
10. Coordinator
In early 2000, Physicians for Human Rights assumed the coordination of the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines. PHR is based out of Boston, MA with an office in Washington, D.C. It convenes monthly USCBL Steering Committee/membership meetings in Washington with frequent e-mail and phone communication between meetings. Prior to 2000, national coordination had been undertaken by the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation in Wahington, D.C. (1996-1999) and by the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children in Palo Alto, CA (1994-1996).
PHR is committed to its taks of overal coordination of the campaign (with significant staff, funding, and other resources dedicated) through at leat the end of 2001.
Should there be a different coordination structure than this? Would your organization be willing to take on the nation-wide coordination after 2001?
Other ideas/comments/questions:
Optional:
Thank you very much for filling out this questionnaire. Your answers will be confidential and we will not distribute your name or contact information to any other organization.