PEACE CORPS-STATE DEPARTMENT RELATIONS

UNCLAS STATE 012309 FROM THE SECRETARY TO ALL CHIEFS OF MISSION E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AODE AMGT SUBJECT: PEACE CORPS-STATE DEPARTMENT RELATIONS REF: 07 STATE 78240 ¶1. INTRODUCTION: In the context of this Administration's foreign assistance programs and initiatives to manage those programs and the U.S. presence overseas, I am delighted to take this opportunity to reaffirm to all Chiefs of Mission the basic principles that guide the Department's dealings with the Peace Corps. The President and I strongly support the objectives and purposes of the Peace Corps and wish to strengthen its capabilities and effectiveness in the years ahead. The Peace Corps is pursuing new opportunities in the twenty-first century, while also ensuring the safety and security of Peace Corps volunteers to the maximum extent possible. The State Department and all of our overseas missions are committed to helping in every way possible. ¶2. PEACE CORPS' PURPOSE: As stated in the Peace Corps Act, the purpose of the Peace Corps is to promote world peace and friendship. The agency's essential role is threefold: ¶A. to provide American volunteers to help meet the needs of the people of the host countries for trained manpower; ¶B. to help promote a better understanding of the American people on the part of the people served; and ¶C. to help promote a better understanding of other people on the part of the American people. The Peace Corps makes a significant contribution to building international understanding and sympathy among people, an integral long-term objective of American foreign policy. ¶3. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE U.S. MISSION AND PEACE CORPS STAFF: ¶A. To fulfill its responsibilities successfully and to retain its unique people-to-people character, the Peace Corps must remain substantially separate from the day- to-day conduct and concerns of our foreign policy. The Peace Corps' role and its need for separation from the day-to-day activities of the mission are not comparable to those of other U.S. Government agencies. ¶B. The President's Letter of Instruction and other relevant laws and regulations (including your delegated duties under the Diplomatic Security Act) outline your authority over and responsibilities for all Executive Branch employees, including Peace Corps staff. As Secretary of State, I am responsible for the "continuous supervision and general direction" of Peace Corps programs to ensure they are effectively integrated both at home and abroad, and "the foreign policy of the United States is best served thereby." Like my predecessors, I ask that you join me in exercising these authorities so as to provide the Peace Corps with as much autonomy and flexibility in its day-to-day operations as possible, so long as this does not conflict with U.S. objectives and policies. As Secretary Rusk stated in 1961, "The Peace Corps is not an instrument of foreign policy because to make it so would rob it of its contribution to foreign policy~." ¶C. The Peace Corps Director will notify you of the selection of the Country Director to be assigned to the Mission, a decision reserved to the Director exclusively. Peace Corps Country Directors and staff members are U.S. officials and are a part of the U.S. Mission; as such they are covered by NSDD-38. ¶D. Peace Corps Country Directors and staff members are present in the country under a separate Peace Corps country agreement under which they have certain privileges, including tax and customs duties exemptions, but no immunities from the jurisdiction of the host government. Peace Corps employees should not be placed on the Mission duty roster or asked to assume Mission administrative functions or other responsibilities outside their Peace Corps duties except in unusual situations. Peace Corps officials are provided with official passports, not diplomatic passports. With regard to Mission descriptions of USG activities overseas, reference to Peace Corps activities in a Mission Strategic Plan should be limited, and confined to the Chief of Mission statement. The Peace Corps welcomes the Chief of Mission's assessment of the Country Director's or other staff members' performance for incorporation into the annual and on-going evaluation process by the Peace Corps of its employees. ¶E. The Peace Corps expects its employees to live at a level that appropriately reflects the Peace Corps' status as a grassroots, people-to-people, volunteer organization. Traditionally Peace Corps offices and staff residences have not been located in Mission compounds or in areas predominantly frequented by foreigners. As provided in section 691 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003, Public Law 107-228, to the degree permitted by security considerations, you should give favorable consideration to requests from the Peace Corps to maintain its offices at locations separate from the Mission and thus preserve this autonomy. ¶4. PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS: ¶A. For all relevant purposes, volunteers are not considered to be U.S. Government employees. They are not official members of the Mission and do not have diplomatic immunity. Generally you and other members of the Mission should not treat them as employees, but should treat them in the same manner as you do all other private American citizens resident in your area. ¶B. Volunteers are selected on the basis of technical expertise, motivation, and personal characteristics relevant to the Peace Corps' purposes of providing technical assistance and fostering improved understanding of the American people by host-country citizens and of host-country peoples on the part of the American people. They are expected to maintain an apolitical stance with respect to the POLITICAL affairs in their countries of service. ¶C. In the absence of overriding security concerns, the Peace Corps is responsible for determining what volunteers will do and where they will be located in- country. ¶D. Peace Corps activities must be completely and absolutely separated from intelligence activities. There should be no contact whatsoever between anyone in the intelligence community and any Peace Corps volunteer or trainee. Peace Corps staff should not be included in meetings where defense or intelligence issues are discussed, unless volunteer safety is at issue. ¶5. COUNTRY AGREEMENTS: The Peace Corps must obtain the Department of State's advice and approval before new programs are proposed or country agreements are negotiated. Embassies work closely with Peace Corps representatives in the process of negotiating, concluding, and when appropriate, terminating Peace Corps country agreements. The Department will follow the Circular 175 procedure set out in 11 FAM 700 in approving negotiation, conclusion, or termination of country agreements. Thereafter, the Peace Corps will ordinarily make direct contact with host governments and arrange for the implementation of country agreements. The Peace Corps representative will keep you fully informed and appropriately consult with you regarding the programs being planned and the number of volunteers involved. Before making a decision about terminating activity in a given country, the Peace Corps will conduct a thorough review in consultation with you and the Department of State. (As mentioned above, terminating a country agreement requires Department approval under Circular 175 procedures.) ¶6. CLOSING: For nearly 50 years, Ambassadors and overseas Missions have assisted the Peace Corps, enabling more than 195,000 volunteers to demonstrate the American people's concern for the welfare of the citizens of other countries and their commitment to peace. The volunteers' success in those endeavors has enhanced significantly the image of the United States abroad. With your assistance, the Peace Corps will continue to fulfill its important mission. I rely on you to manage constructively the Peace Corps relationship at your post. ¶7. Minimize considered. CLINTON