CBS This Morning Set to "Hammer" the Peace Corps
Those of us who served during the 1960s may not be aware of how much training and support services have…
The agency was notified this last Wednesday afternoon about an upcoming broadcast tomorrow morning on CBS This Morning sometime between 7 am and 9 am EST. The topic is sexual assaults on PCVs.
The general feeling within in the agency–based on questions asked–is that the segment will focus on what has gone wrong overseas and CBS will not balance its reporting with the positive changed that have taken place for women since the Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act of 2011 took effect. The reporting will also focus on the failures of some CDs in country to protect their Volunteers.
Whether the CBS Morning segment will have the ‘staying power’ of the 20/20 report remains to be seen. For a good overview of how the agency is doing read the Peace Corps Performance and Accountability Report FY2015. It has just been published.
The link:http://files.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/pdf/policies/annrept2015.pdf
Meanwhile, applications to join the Peace Corps are at an all time high and the agency cannot meet the request for more PCVs in more country because Congress continues, as always, not to fully fund the agency. The magic number of 10K Peace Corps Volunteers remains allusive.
Those of us who served during the 1960s may not be aware of how much training and support services have been shifted overseas. Trainees meet in the US for a few short days for “staging” and then immediately travel to the Host Country. Host Country Nationals are the majority force staffing both training and support services, there. HCNs are not subject to the five year rule.They provide a sense of a permanent Peace Corps administrative structure in the Host Country. Country Directors are subject to the Five Year Rule. Concern has been expressed in the past that there can be a “gap” when Country Director posts are vacant, or not fully trained. It is in this context, that the training of overseas staff becomes very important.