Why we need a Peace Corps for the next generation
We live in a world of deepening, serious threats. The invasion of Ukraine, the struggle to overcome COVID-19 and the need for a robust response to climate change are some of the present global challenges.
This year, for the first time in two years, the United States is on the verge of sending our most valued treasure — our people — overseas to confront those threats and others as Peace Corps volunteers once again.
For the past two years, the Peace Corps, like much of the world, was grounded by COVID-19, with no volunteers currently serving abroad. As the Peace Corps gets ready to relaunch, it is my hope, as a returned Peace Corps volunteer who served from 1966-1969, that it becomes even more effective than before.
The good news is that this is possible. While nearly 7,000 Americans serving in some 60 countries came home in 2020, the 240,000 Americans who served since the agency’s founding in March 1961 didn’t sit still. We organized, drew on the knowledge and experience of the community and produced a comprehensive set of recommendations for how the Peace Corps can return to the field to meet the needs of a changed world.
Our community’s voices were organized by our returned volunteer membership organization — National Peace Corps Association — to ensure that America’s most iconic service agency lives up to President Kennedy’s grand vision of bringing the world together in peace. This vision is more urgent today, due to the global threats we all face.
I know firsthand about the importance of the Peace Corps and of the impact we can have.
Raised in Bethlehem, I graduated from Moravian College in 1965. I served the next three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in northern Kenya, teaching science to students coming from nomadic tribes.
The thirst of these students for education and global understanding was remarkable. For many, this was their one chance to improve their lives, and they did so, becoming health professionals, teachers, lawyers, public officials and other meaningful roles in their society.
From Pennsylvania, over 8,705 other returned Peace Corps volunteers like myself have served in countries around the world since the Peace Corps’ founding.
The anniversary of President Kennedy’s 1961 executive order establishing the Peace Corps was celebrated a couple weeks ago, and volunteers will soon return to service overseas. At least eight countries have met revised health, safety and security standards for volunteers to return, while more nations are close to meeting those standards.
Yet more needs to be done. The first step toward completing an overhaul of Peace Corps operations is new authorizing legislation.
The Peace Corps Reauthorization Act (HR 1456) includes provisions to improve in-service and post-service health care; extend the critical mission of a Sexual Assault Advisory Council; enhance several volunteer financial benefits; expedite applications for volunteers wishing to return to service after COVID brought them home; and to raise opportunities and respect for Peace Corps service.
As volunteers return to the field, battling COVID will be a significant part of their work. In October
2021 testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Acting Director Carol Spahn said: “The Peace Corps is committed to playing a critical role in global COVID-19 response and recovery by returning volunteers to work in partnership with underserved communities around the world.” Climate change is also a priority.
While it’s been over 20 years since Congress reauthorized the original Peace Corps Act, last September Democrats and Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee came together and passed HR1456 by a vote of 44 to 4. The rest of the Congress should follow their lead.
Now is the time for action — as volunteers again prepare for service.
Congratulations to Rep. Susan Wild, who has taken a leadership role as a co-sponsor of HR 1456 in the House. Please urge Sens. Bob Casey and Pat Toomey to become original co-sponsors of the counterpart Senate legislation when it is introduced in the next weeks.
This commitment is an important step toward deepening our nation’s commitment to service and our nation’s highest ideals.