NY DoP

[carolhillson]

Legislative Correspondent

The Honorable Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
Russell Building, Suite 476
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
tel: 202-224-3565
fax: 202-228-0282

Dear Josh:

Thank you for meeting with us on February 5, 2007 to discuss the Department of Peace (DOP) legislation. As we mentioned, there are proven methods for preventing violence and transforming conflict. Establishing a DOP to research, articulate and facilitate such solutions will save billions of dollars and countless lives. I want to take this opportunity to respond further to your question about research and programs in this area.

To start, Gareth Evans, President of the International Crisis Group, http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4653&l=1, points out that, contrary to the common impression, the number of wars, especially serious ones, and the number of battle deaths has actually declined significantly in the last 20 years. Further, he says, "the best explanation is... the huge upsurge in activity in conflict prevention, conflict management, diplomatic peacemaking and post-conflict peace-building activity that has occurred over the last fifteen years. . . ."

A paper published by the Peace Alliance further illustrates the common sense and cost effectiveness of peace-building strategies. http://www.thepeacealliance.org/files/outreach_material/whitepaper_wappendix.pdf

According to the World Health Organization, the US currently spends over 300 billion per year due to interpersonal violence excluding war. (http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/activities/economics/en/). In addition, we are spending 11 million dollars an hour in Iraq. More than 3000 Americans have been killed in that war as well as over 100,000 Iraqi civilians.

In terms of "cutting edge programs," I have listed below some items for your review. I’ve compiled a very small sampling. I would also like to offer you an opportunity to discuss the topic in more depth with an expert in the field, Tricia Jones, of Temple University. She would be happy to speak with you directly about the kind of programs and anticipated results that a DOP would deliver. I’d be delighted to put you in touch with her.

With respect to your concerns, the research shows that despite the epidemic proportions of violence, proven solutions already exist. They are largely uncoordinated, under-resourced, and underutilized. The DOP will solve that problem by coordinating efforts, identifying practitioners and providing the essential funding. Because prevention is so much more cost effective than crisis response – the proposed annual budget for the DOP is only 8 billion dollars.

In advocating for the DOP, we seek to have the US Government recognize and embed state of the art thinking about violence prevention and conflict transformation as key elements of both foreign and domestic policy. We are asking Senator Clinton to take a leadership role on this issue and make it part of her presidential platform.

Thank you again for your time and attention. I look forward to continuing the conversation, and many thanks to you and Senator Clinton for her work to prevent the escalation of troops in Iraq and provide a sensible way forward.

Sincerely,

Carol Hillson


Challenge Day
School Bullying Prevention program
http://www.challengeday.org/see-the-results.html

This nationally recognized, award-winning day-long program has proven benefits of reduced teen drug, alcohol and tobacco use, reduced student absenteeism, and reduced teasing and violence in middle schools and high schools. The Challenge Day program provides participants with the tools to tear down the walls of separation and inspires them to live, study and work in an encouraging environment of acceptance, love and respect.

Since its inception, the Challenge Day program has received numerous awards from the Juvenile Justice System, the D.A.R.E. Officers Association, government officials, and many school districts and cities nationwide. The Challenge Day program has been featured in the New York Times best seller, Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul and won an Emmy in Children's Programming when the "Teen Files: Surviving High School" segment aired nationally on UPN in 1999. In April of 1999, after the tragic incident at Columbine High School, Yvonne and Rich were asked to bring the Challenge Day program to Colorado as part of the healing for the greater Denver community.


Tariq Khamisa Foundation
http://www.tkf.org/
Youth and Gang Violence Prevention

TKF was formed in 1995 after Tariq Khamisa, a 20-year-old SDSU student, was senselessly shot and killed while delivering pizzas. His assailant was a 14-year-old gang member named Tony Hicks. Believing that there were “victims at both ends of the gun”, Azim Khamisa, Tariq’s father, reached out in forgiveness to Tony’s grandfather and guardian, Ples Felix, to begin the process of healing. TKF is a non profit organization dedicated to breaking the epidemic of youth violence. Through TKF’s school-based nonviolence programs, Azim Khamisa and Ples Felix speak to elementary and middle school children about gangs, violence, revenge, and the importance of becoming “peacemakers”.

Measuring success: http://www.tkf.org/measuring_our_success.html#study

Books Not Bars “1 Youth in Jail equals 2 Youth at Yale”
Addresses the Criminalization of Youth

http://www.humanrightsproject.org/vid_detail.php?film_id=3

This short documentary focuses on the growth of the prison industrial complex in the U.S. through the eyes of the youth who are working to reverse the trend. The title refers to the claim that adolescents are four to five times more likely to go to prison than be educated.

Nicole Brown Foundation
Brings Public Awareness to the Issue of Domestic Violence

http://www.nbcf.org/
Domestic violence is a national epidemic killing three women every day in the United States. It has no religious, political, age, gender, sexual or social boundaries.


Community Conference Center
Community based conflict transformation
http://www.communityconferencing.org/mission.asp

Community Conferencing was introduced in Baltimore in 1995 by Dr.
Lauren Abramson. After learning about the process at a conference of
the Silvan S. Tomkins Institute in Philadelphia in 1994 from Australian
David Moore, Lauren attended the first facilitator training workshops
conducted in the United States in 1995 by Transformative Justice
Australia.

Lauren became acutely interested in bringing the potential power of this
social technology to bear on social injustices in inner-city neighborhoods.
Community Conferencing has the potential

to bring about important system reforms in criminal justice, education, human services
empower individuals, families and neighborhoods to resolve their own conflicts and in doing so, mobilize existing untapped human capital


Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution
Many states have policies on the books mandating conflict resolution programs. Ohio is the only state where the mandate is funded and resourced.

http://www.disputeresolution.ohio.gov/
The Commission is in the forefront of a national movement to promote the use of dispute resolution process and conflict management skills.

Through its accomplishments, the Commission has gained recognition as the most comprehensive state dispute resolution program in the country.

Ohio currently leads the nation in statewide programming in conflict resolution education. Between 1990 and 2004 the number of school districts with conflict management programs grew from 30 to more than 400 (Ohio has 612 school districts) reporting some form of a conflict management program.
(Here is a link to one of Tricia Jones’s presentations on the effectiveness of Conflict Resolution Education (CRE) http://disputeresolution.ohio.gov/pdfs/Does%20CRE%20Make%20a%20Difference%20.pdf


3D security
http://www.3dsecurity.org/
Comprehensive approach to Foreign Policy and Human Security
Overview: http://www.3dsecurity.org/newvision

The 3D Security Initiative explores which Development, Diplomacy, and Defense initiatives are most likely to be effective and faithful to American values. The 3D Security Initiative is a broadly-based effort to encourage a more balanced approach to U.S. security policy. Sponsored by the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University, many of the perspectives contained in our website come from a variety of other constituencies.

3D security includes conflict prevention and peacebuilding programs. Conflict prevention and peacebuilding seek to prevent, reduce, transform, and help people recover from violence. They address the root causes of economic, political and social instability through a wide range of programs such as job creation, reconciliation between conflicting groups, democratization of decision-making, environmentally-sustainable development, and training in conflict resolution skills.

3D security requires increasing our investments in development and diplomacy. Much like investors are encouraged to invest in a diverse retirement portfolio, so the nation should invest in diverse security tools.

A 3D Security Toolkit
For many people, the word security quickly brings to mind the military or the defense department. But a poster on the wall at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, tells a different story. Detailing dozens of different "Tools of National Security," the military is merely one of the tools listed."If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail." Security requires a variety of tools in addressing complex threats. The toolkit includes hundreds of different tool like treaties, negotiation, advocacy, law enforcement, economic development, and trade policies. These tools can be categorized broadly under the headings of Development, Diplomacy and Defense; the 3D's of security. 3D security is a well-rounded security "toolkit." 3D security has been promoted by countries like Canada and the U.K. for a number of years. Now bi-partisan Congressional leaders and the Bush administration promote 3D security as a new vision for rethinking security as detailed in the 2006 National Security Strategy. According to the U.S. National Security Strategy published by the White House in March 2006, the U.S. security portfolio should include development, diplomacy and defense.
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I try to take life a day at a time but sometimes several days attack me at once.<br>
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