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RPCV Ambassador Tony Hall says Peace Corps needs to make some changes




Former Ohio Congressman and Thailand RPCV Tony Hall is one of the most illustrious Returned Volunteers. Hall, who is ambassador to the United Nations food and agriculture agencies in Rome, served in the Peace Corps from 1966-67 in Thailand and was one of Ohio's longest serving members of Congress when he left the seat he had held for nearly 24 years in 2002. Winner of the prestigious Shriver Award in 1994, he has been a staunch and outspoken advocate in the fight against world hunger and in protection of human rights.

In an interview with the Dayton Daily News, Ambassador Hall had comments on a number of issues regarding the Peace Corps including whether the series on Volunteer Safety and Security should have been published, what needs to be done, on whether the next Peace Corps Director should be an RPCV, and whether the Peace Corps' budget should be increased. Here are some quotes from the interview, but read the entire interview below:
Quote:

It's a story that probably needs to be told. It probably is going to hurt recruiting unless changes are made. It talks about the Peace Corps in a way that it's never been talked about.

...it appears to me that the Peace Corps needs to make some changes. Things have changed in the last 10, 12, 14 years.

I do know that there are some glaring problems, and they've got to be looked at.

The thing that makes the Peace Corps is not the bureaucracy; it's not the director, it's the volunteers. Everything should be done for the volunteers.

In the long run, if the Peace Corps makes corrections, that will help them.

If I were still in Congress, I'd say there needs to be some kind of victims' liaison or ombudsman for volunteers and their families. They need answers and follow-up. I think a lot of the anger and frustration that I read in the articles came from poor communication.

There's always the issue of should the director be an ex-volunteer. And nine times out of 10, I'd say, "Absolutely." But then again, you've had some good directors who were not former volunteers. I'm not wedded to that, but if I had to come down on one side, I'd advocate that the next director, and all directors, should be Peace Corps returnees. Nobody understands the volunteer better than an ex-volunteer. They understand the language difficulty, they understand what it means to get dysentery. They understand what it means when you're out there and you're all alone.

I am for increasing the Peace Corps' budget. I know that it gives us a much better image in the world. If Congress wants a more protected Peace Corps, and if it wants to increase the number of volunteers, as the president wants to do, then the money has to be provided.

Read the entire interview which is very illuminating and thought-provoking at:

Peace Corps ‘best investment’ in foreign policy, Hall says*

* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.


Peace Corps ‘best investment’ in foreign policy, Hall says

Dayton Daily News

Editor's note: Editorial Page Editor Ellen Belcher and Washington Correspondent Mei-Ling Hopgood recently interviewed Ambassador Tony Hall about his thoughts on the “Dayton Daily News” series, "Casualties of Peace," regarding safety in the Peace Corps. Excerpts from that interview follow.

Hall, who is ambassador to the United Nations food and agriculture agencies in Rome, served in the Peace Corps from 1966-67 in Thailand where he taught English. He was Dayton's longest serving member of Congress when he left the seat he had held for nearly 24 years in 2002.

Q: In reading the series, what was revealing to you?

A: I was surprised. It's a story that probably needs to be told. It probably is going to hurt recruiting unless changes are made. It talks about the Peace Corps in a way that it's never been talked about.

I think people will say, "This is a very dangerous agency to work for."

I don't believe that for a minute. And I don't think a lot of Peace Corps people believe that. But the series can give that impression.

But it appears to me that the Peace Corps needs to make some changes. Things have changed in the last 10, 12, 14 years.

Q: What do you mean?

A: I see it with organizations like the United Nations, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Program. U.N. peacekeepers are under attack, and so is one of the sacred institutions of all times — the International Red Cross.

These institutions are innocent; they're nonpartisan; they don't take sides.

The Peace Corps had — still has — a reputation as a great American institution. But the world has changed, and Americans are more at risk, especially overseas.

I've seen it since becoming an ambassador. Things have changed for embassies; security is much tighter.

The Peace Corps needs to take a look at some of the statistics in the series. Having said that, I think there were 350 volunteers interviewed, and almost every one of them looked favorably on their service. That's amazing. There are many, many, very good stories, good people and good experiences to be written about.

In the long run, if the Peace Corps makes corrections, that will help them.

Q: Can you give specific recommendations?

A: If I were still in Congress, I'd say there needs to be some kind of victims' liaison or ombudsman for volunteers and their families. They need answers and follow-up.

I think a lot of the anger and frustration that I read in the articles came from poor communication.

I think psychological evaluations need to be better. I can't tell you how they do it now, but when the Peace Corps started, we had psychological evaluations.

I've recently talked to somebody in the Peace Corps, and she told me they do psychological evaluations, but from a distance. It's not like having a face-to-face evaluation.

In my class that went to Thailand in the late ’60s, we had 110 people who were invited to train. We trained, for the most part, in the United States. But only 42 were sent overseas. The rest were sent home because they were not suited. After three months, you had a pretty good understanding of who was going to be difficult, who had problems.

Today, they send everybody overseas. If they have a class of 60 people and they're going to go to Nigeria, they don't evaluate them here. They send them to Nigeria.

I don't know of any kids who are sent home. If they choose to go home because they find out that this is not for them, then they can go home.

But I think there needs to be a better psychological or peer review before they're actually sent to a host country.

As I read about volunteers' depression, alcohol abuse, drugs, etc., one of the ways you might be able to combat these things is to send people out two-by-two.

If a country has an area that is high crime, you don't send anybody there; and if it's a questionable situation, maybe volunteers should go two-by-two, particularly if they're women.

We have to be invited to countries. We can't just decide that we're now going to send volunteers. They want us there, or they wouldn't have invited us.

We have leverage, and if we don't get cooperation on matters like safety, we can pull our volunteers.

The Peace Corps needs to change with the times. Dollar-for-dollar, this is the best investment that America has in its foreign policy.

A lot of people get their information about Americans from MTV or Hollywood. The Peace Corps demonstrates our compassion, our generosity. We give our people. They make the kind of money that the people they work and live with make. They live in the same housing. They learn the language.

The Peace Corps is not for everybody. You have to go into the service with your eyes open. You're going into very, very difficult spots in the world. It's always been that way.

You want to be sure that the people that you're sending overseas are somewhat mature. You have to be careful that you're not sending people who are going to do crazy things. That's asking for trouble.

Q: In October, the Peace Corps director announced he would be resigning. Is there a profile that you would look for in the next director?

A: There's always the issue of should the director be an ex-volunteer. And nine times out of 10, I'd say, "Absolutely." But then again, you've had some good directors who were not former volunteers.

I'm not wedded to that, but if I had to come down on one side, I'd advocate that the next director, and all directors, should be Peace Corps returnees. Nobody understands the volunteer better than an ex-volunteer. They understand the language difficulty, they understand what it means to get dysentery. They understand what it means when you're out there and you're all alone.

Q: Congress has cut about $45 million to $49 million from the Peace Corps' requested budget for expansion. Doesn't that also impact this issue?

A: I am for increasing the Peace Corps' budget. I know that it gives us a much better image in the world.

If Congress wants a more protected Peace Corps, and if it wants to increase the number of volunteers, as the president wants to do, then the money has to be provided.

Partnerships also are key to the Peace Corps' effectiveness and volunteers' safety. We need to anchor some of our Peace Corps volunteers to some of the existing support systems that are out there now — like the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Program, the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the Red Cross.

One of the things I'm trying to work out is an agreement with the Peace Corps and the FAO to form a partnership where the Peace Corps would be connected to the FAO in various countries. The Peace Corps needs to build relationships with these large institutions, whether it's the United Nations, Catholic Relief Services or VisionCare.

Working in connection with some of these international organizations would anchor volunteers. Oftentimes they're sent to very remote areas, and they have to build their own support system. That's hard.

Being attached to other groups would help these organizations, and it would also help the volunteers.

I'm a believer in the Peace Corps, and I want it to succeed. I don't want it to be hurt.

I do know that there are some glaring problems, and they've got to be looked at.

The thing that makes the Peace Corps is not the bureaucracy; it's not the director, it's the volunteers. Everything should be done for the volunteers.

[From the Dayton Daily News: 11.13.2003]


February 14, 2002 - Thailand RPCV Tony Hall to become U.S. ambassador to United Nations food and agricultural agencies




Read and comment on this story from RollCall on Thailand RPCV Tony Hall who is leaving Congress to become U.S. ambassador to United Nations food and agricultural agencies at:

Dedication *

* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.


Dedication

Feb 14, 2002 - Roll Call

Far more than most citizens realize - or Congressional critics would credit - many Members of Congress have dedicated themselves to causes that transcend career advancement, party advantage and even the welfare of their immediate constituents. Some Members make their mark by strengthening national defense, advancing medical research or reforming the election system.

Few Members, however, can match the example of Rep. Tony Hall's (D- Ohio) dedication to the cause of fighting hunger in America and around the world - a dedication that has led to his decision to leave Congress and become U.S. ambassador to United Nations food and agricultural agencies.

Hall served in the Peace Corps in Thailand in the mid-1960s and returned to his hometown of Dayton, Ohio, to become a real estate broker and small-businessman. He quickly was elected to the Ohio Legislature, where he served for nearly 10 years, sponsoring election reform legislation and urban development bills that would help cities like Dayton. He came to Congress in 1978 and became a born-again Christian in the 1980s, which deepened his dedication to the world's neediest people.

He was a founding member of the House Select Committee on Hunger and became its chairman in 1989 when Rep. Mickey Leland (D-Texas) died in a plane crash while on an anti-hunger mission in Ethiopia. In 1993, when the House voted to eliminate the committee, Hall went on a 22-day hunger strike. He did not succeed in saving the panel, but did win promises from the World Bank and the Agriculture Department to hold conferences on world hunger. In 1993, when Republicans abolished the House Hunger Caucus along with other taxpayer-funded caucuses, Hall went on to form the Congressional Hunger Center, a clearinghouse to advance the cause.

Over the years the indefatigable Hall traveled the impoverished world - Somalia, Haiti, Rwanda, North Korea - to inspect famine conditions and promote relief efforts. He has not been deceived by propaganda along the way, however. After a visit to Iraq in 2000, he refused to call for the lifting of economic sanctions against Saddam Hussein's regime, citing human rights violations and the threat of weapons of mass destruction. Three times Hall has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

At home he helped foster "gleanings" programs, whereby restaurants and conventions provide leftover food to the homeless. He's also followed his religious principles with consistency and political independence, opposing both abortion and the death penalty and backing President Bush's efforts to assist faith-based institutions. Hall hasn't ignored his district, succeeding in expanding programs at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. And he's been a political success, winning re-election in 2000 with 83 percent of the vote. This is a Congressional career that makes us all feel proud to be around here.




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