2006.06.30: June 30, 2006: Headlines: Directors - Vasquez: OC Register: Senate confirms Gaddi Vasquez to head FAO, Jody Olsen is interim acting PC Director
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2006.06.30: June 30, 2006: Headlines: Directors - Vasquez: OC Register: Senate confirms Gaddi Vasquez to head FAO, Jody Olsen is interim acting PC Director
- 2006.07.20: July 20, 2006: Headlines: Directors - Vasquez: Peace Corps Press Office: Correction to Story from Orange County Register: As of now, Gaddi Vasquez is still the Peace Corps Director Thursday, July 20, 2006 - 2:09 pm [1]
- 2006.07.01: July 1, 2006: Headlines: Directors - Vasquez: Wikipedia: Wikipedia Biography of Gaddi Vasquez Sunday, July 02, 2006 - 11:10 pm [1]
- 2006.06.30: June 30, 2006: Headlines: COS - Tunisia: Staff: University of Utah: Tunisia RPCV Jody Olsen is Acting Director of the Peace Corps Friday, June 30, 2006 - 9:09 pm [1]
Senate confirms Gaddi Vasquez to represent US at FAO, Jody Olsen is interim acting Peace Corps Director
The Senate confirmed Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez on June 30 to become the next U.S. representative to the United Nations food and agriculture programs. The interim acting director will be Jody Olsen, deputy director of the corps since 2002.
Senate confirms Gaddi Vasquez to represent US at FAO, Jody Olsen is interim acting Peace Corps Director
Gaddi Vasquez to head hunger effort
The Peace Corps director and former Orange County supervisor is confirmed as the next U.S. representative to the United Nations food and agriculture programs.
By KIRA PEIKOFF
The Orange County Register
WASHINGTON - The Senate on Thursday confirmed Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez to become the next U.S. representative to the United Nations food and agriculture programs.
Vasquez, a former Orange County supervisor, replaces former Rep. Tony Hall in the position. His main responsibility will be as the U.S. point person to the Food and Agriculture Organization, a council of nations that works to end world hunger. He will be moving to Rome to take on the ambassador-level position.
Vasquez does not yet have a course of action mapped out, but plans to assess the situation in Rome and proceed from there.
The overarching goal in all of this is to address the very important issue of world hunger, Vasquez said, adding that the U.S. is a leader in providing aid. We will advance efforts to eradicate hunger and deliver food to those with the greatest need.
The White House has not yet named his replacement. The interim acting director will be Jody Olsen, deputy director of the corps since 2002. Olsen started with the agency in 1966 as a volunteer in Tunisia. She held a variety of positions in the corps during the early '80s and '90s and also served as executive director of the Council for the International Exchange of Scholars, an organization that manages Fulbright scholarships.
During his tenure, Vasquez focused on increasing the diversity and number of volunteers. When he was confirmed 4 1/2 years ago, President Bush mandated that he increase the number of volunteers to 14,000 by 2007. Though the corps now has only 8,000 members budgetary constraints have interfered with expansion the number is still an all-time high for the 45-year-old organization.
Vasquez also opened programs in new countries like Mexico, with one in Cambodia set to follow soon. Recruitment expanded to community colleges, like Santa Ana College, where before it was restricted to four-year campuses. Vasquez also endured criticism over the safety of volunteers and beefed up the agency's security policies and procedures.
CONTACT US: (202) 628-6381 or kpeikoff@ocregister.com
When this story was posted in June 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| Changing the Face of Hunger In his new book, Former Congressman Tony Hall (RPCV Thailand) says humanitarian aid is the most potent weapon the United States can deploy against terrorism. An evangelical Christian, he is a big believer in faith-based organizations in the fight against hunger. Members of Congress have recently recommended that Hall be appointed special envoy to Sudan to focus on ending the genocide in Darfur. |
| The Peace Corps Library The Peace Corps Library is now available online with over 40,000 index entries in 500 categories. Looking for a Returned Volunteer? Check our RPCV Directory. New: Sign up to receive PCOL Magazine, our free Monthly Magazine by email. Like to keep up with Peace Corps news as it happens? Sign up to recieve a daily summary of Peace Corps stories from around the world. |
| PC will not return to East Timor in 2006 Volunteers serving in East Timor have safely left the country as a result of the recent civil unrest and government instability. Latest: The Peace Corps has informed us that at this time, the Peace Corps has no plans to re-enter the country in 2006. The Peace Corps recently sent a letter offering eligible volunteers the opportunity to reinstate their service in another country. |
| Chris Dodd considers run for the White House Senator Chris Dodd plans to spend the next six to eight months raising money and reaching out to Democrats around the country to gauge his viability as a candidate. Just how far Dodd can go depends largely on his ability to reach Democrats looking for an alternative to Hillary Clinton. PCOL Comment: Dodd served as a Volunteer in the Dominican Republic and has been one of the strongest supporters of the Peace Corps in Congress. |
| Vasquez testifies before Senate Committee Director Vasquez testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on his nomination as the new Representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture replacing Tony Hall. He has been the third longest serving Peace Corps Director after Loret Ruppe Miller and Sargent Shriver. PCOL Comment: Read our thanks to Director Vasquez for his service to the Peace Corps. |
| Interview with a Hit Man RPCV John Perkins says that for many years he was an "economic hit man" in the world of international finance whose primary job was to convince less developed countries to accept multibillion dollar loans for infrastructure projects that left the recipient countries wallowing in debt and highly vulnerable to outside political and commercial interests. In this exclusive interview for "Peace Corps Online," Colombia RPCV Joanne Roll, author of Remember with Honor, talks to Perkins about his Peace Corps service, his relation with the NSA, "colonization" in Ecuador, the consequences of his work, why he decided to speak out, and what his hopes are for change. |
| Peace Corps stonewalls on FOIA request The Ashland Daily Tidings reports that Peace Corps has blocked their request for information on the Volkart case. "After the Tidings requested information pertaining to why Volkart was denied the position on March 2 the newspaper received a letter from the Peace Corps FOIA officer stating the requested information was protected under an exemption of the act." The Dayton Daily News had similar problems with FOIA requests for their award winning series on Volunteer Safety and Security. |
| PCOL readership increases 100% Monthly readership on "Peace Corps Online" has increased in the past twelve months to 350,000 visitors - over eleven thousand every day - a 100% increase since this time last year. Thanks again, RPCVs and Friends of the Peace Corps, for making PCOL your source of information for the Peace Corps community. And thanks for supporting the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come. |
| History of the Peace Corps PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help. |
| RPCV admits to abuse while in Peace Corps Timothy Ronald Obert has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a minor in Costa Rica while serving there as a Peace Corps volunteer. "The Peace Corps has a zero tolerance policy for misconduct that violates the law or standards of conduct established by the Peace Corps," said Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez. Could inadequate screening have been partly to blame? Mr. Obert's resume, which he had submitted to the Peace Corps in support of his application to become a Peace Corps Volunteer, showed that he had repeatedly sought and obtained positions working with underprivileged children. Read what RPCVs have to say about this case. |
| Why blurring the lines puts PCVs in danger When the National Call to Service legislation was amended to include Peace Corps in December of 2002, this country had not yet invaded Iraq and was not in prolonged military engagement in the Middle East, as it is now. Read the story of how one volunteer spent three years in captivity from 1976 to 1980 as the hostage of a insurrection group in Colombia in Joanne Marie Roll's op-ed on why this legislation may put soldier/PCVs in the same kind of danger. Latest: Read the ongoing dialog on the subject. |
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Story Source: OC Register
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Directors - Vasquez; FAO; Hunger
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