June 23, 2004: Headlines: Congress: Legislation: Safety and Security of Volunteers: Twin Cities Pioneer Press: Twin Cities Pioneer Press reports on Senate's Peace Corps Safety Hearings

Peace Corps Online: Peace Corps News: Library: Peace Corps: Legislation : Legislation: June 22, 2004: Headlines: Congress: Legislation: PCOL Exclusive: Report from the Senate's Peace Corps Safety Hearings : June 23, 2004: Headlines: Congress: Legislation: Safety and Security of Volunteers: Twin Cities Pioneer Press: Twin Cities Pioneer Press reports on Senate's Peace Corps Safety Hearings

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-45-115.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.45.115) on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 4:23 am: Edit Post

Twin Cities Pioneer Press reports on Senate's Peace Corps Safety Hearings

Twin Cities Pioneer Press reports on Senate's Peace Corps Safety Hearings



There are a number of inaccuracies in this story from the Twin Cities Pioneer Press on the Peace Corps hearings held on June 22. For one, Senator Chris Dodd did not wonder why the agency is resisting sending out volunteers in pairs. Read the story and see how many more you can find at:

Peace Corps attacks on the decline*

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



Peace Corps attacks on the decline

BY TOM WEBB

Washington Correspondent

WASHINGTON — The Peace Corps is making progress at better protecting its 7,500 volunteers around the world, but more must be done to safeguard their security, a Senate panel was told Tuesday.

The General Accounting Office reported that the number of assaults and other crimes against Peace Corps volunteers has leveled off in the past two years after a 12-year increase. The rising tide sparked an outcry for the agency to do better.

"The Peace Corps has taken the initiative," Peace Corps director Gaddi Vasquez told a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee, citing a newly created office of security and the addition of 80 full-time safety staffers.

Surveys of Peace Corps volunteers showed that 97 percent said they felt "very safe" or "adequately safe," he added.

Several senators pressed for more. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., once a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic, wondered why the agency is resisting sending out volunteers in pairs.

Women now make up more than 60 percent of volunteers and an even greater percentage of its crime victims.

Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., who has endorsed President Bush's call to double the size of the volunteer force, called the Peace Corps "American diplomacy at its best."

"Now more than ever, we need the Peace Corps to continue fostering international goodwill at the grassroots level," he said.




Click on a link below for more stories on PCOL

Read the series on Safety and Security here



Leave your comments on the series below.

Read comments by RPCVs here, here and here.





Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Congress; Legislation; Safety and Security of Volunteers

PCOL12021
66

.

By A Mother back home (roc-24-169-176-190.rochester.rr.com - 24.169.176.190) on Wednesday, June 30, 2004 - 5:03 pm: Edit Post

If PC is such a wonderful organization, full of compassion and concern for its volunteers, then why can't my daughter in Madagascar be given a satellite phone so as to reach out to others, in case of assult, danger, sickness, injury? To put a volunteer into a strange remote place without means to communicate, is a human violation...Do other parents agree with me or what?..


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: