PEACE CORPS: Initiatives for Addressing Safety and Security Challenges Hold Promise, but Progress Should Be Assessed
Abstract
Approximately 7,000 Peace Corps volunteers currently serve in about 70 countries, where they face a variety of safety and security risks. Volunteers often live in areas with limited access to reliable communications, police, or medical services and, as Americans may be viewed as relatively wealthy and hence good targets for criminal activity. Incidents such as the 1995 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the events of September 11, 2001, have heightened awareness about the risks facing all Americans, especially those living abroad. In this State of the Union address, President Bush proposed doubling the number of volunteers worldwide and increasing the number of Peace Corps posts. You asked us to evaluate Peace Corps safety and security policies and practices. In this report, we (1) describe rates and trends in crime against volunteers and review the agency's system for generating such information, (2) describe the agency's framework for maintaining volunteer safety and security, (3) evaluate the Peace Corps' implementation of this framework, and (4) review agency initiatives to improve current practices. We also describe practices employed by other organizations, such as the Japanese Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, that face safety and security challenges similar to the Peace Corps.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA404287
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office