Evaluation of Peace Corps/Guatemala

We recommend that the regional director for Inter-America and the Pacific operations improve the effectiveness of the agency’s delivery of information regarding crimes and risks facing Volunteers in Guatemala to all applicants invited to serve in the country, and that this information include the country-specific security policies and travel-related restrictions Volunteers in Guatemala must agree to follow.

We recommend that the country director clarify with staff and Volunteers that whereabouts reporting by Volunteers is required for emergency preparedness, and may be used only for that purpose.

We recommend that the country director and safety and security manager ensure that the post’s whereabouts notification system is de-linked from its system for tracking leave balances, and is not used by staff as a way to monitor a Volunteer’s leave balance or as an indicator of a Volunteer’s performance at his or her site.

We recommend that the director of programming and training ensure that program managers use work reports and other communications with Volunteers and their counterparts to address concerns related to Volunteer performance at site.

We recommend that the associate director for safety and security improve the agency’s guidance, including making revisions to Appendix A MS 220, for posts on how to develop a whereabouts notification system that is fully separate from an annual leave tracking system.