Culture Change at the Peace Corps Webcast: April 2 at 10:00 a.m.
Thank you, John, for the link to the forum. I watched today and I thought it was very good. The…
Over the last few years, the Peace Corps has implemented a series of new policies and procedures aimed at reducing risks for volunteers and providing support and guidance to volunteers who experience, witness, or report sexual assault.
The following discussion will be streamed live on the website (http://csis.org/events/event/culture-change-peace-corps) of the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington DC:
Culture Change at the Peace Corps
APRIL 2, 2015 | 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Thank you, John, for the link to the forum. I watched today and I thought it was very good. The discussion was realistic and comprehensive. I gained more of an understanding of what Carrie Hessler-Radelet has done and what remains to be done.
I came away with two thoughts. The first is that I hope this video is available on the Peace Corps website. It features an intelligent conversation among very smart women dealing with a very difficult issue. It is so much better than the simplistic, one dimensional, promotions that pass for information on the official blog. I think the kind of person who would respond to this discussion is the kind of person we would want as Volunteers.
My second thought is that many in the audience do not understand the administrative structure of Peace Corps. I don’t think that many knew that the in-country training, management, and clerical staff is mainly composed of host country nationals. So when Carrie spoke of training staff and host country cultural norms, she was speaking of her own staff. I think many assumed that all Peace Corps staff are US personnel.