A Call to Peace - Civic Enterprises

Below are core principles and proposals we haveidentified for an expansion of international volunteerservice, followed by an action agenda for Congress, theAdministration and private and non-profit sectors.Our PrinciplesPartnerships, Not Paternalism – We will foster aculture of volunteer service and social innovation withvolunteers from many nations serving side-by-side atwork on shared problems. We will stress the goal ofbuilding social capital internationally through personto-personcontact and capacity-building, and show thatAmericans have as much to learn from others as othershave to learn from us.Global Service 2.0. – Through the Peace Corps,government-to-government agreements have enabledvolunteers to serve for at least two years in more than130 countries. We support a major expansion of thePeace Corps. Our plan also provides new opportunitiesfor shorter terms of service directly through nongovernmentorganizations working overseas. Already,hundreds of nongovernment programs have emergedsince the Peace Corps’ creation, which send tens ofthousands of volunteers overseas every year. We seekto leverage limited resources through partnerships withnon-profit and private sector programs (NGOs, faithbasedorganizations, and corporations). Recent surveysshow that new volunteers, among them Millennials andBaby Boomers, can be readily tapped.Next Generation of Global Leaders – We believeinternational service, study abroad, and exchangeprograms should be supported as an integral part ofquality education in the United States and aroundthe world. We want to scale up these programs andstrengthen the links among them.Interfaith Service – Too often in the past, peopleof different faiths have been warring in the name ofreligion. We will support global partnerships that bringpeople of different faiths together in shared work. Webelieve such partnerships are among the most effectiveways to foster peace and reconciliation in “hot spots”of conflict.Creating Opportunity – We see the value ofinternational service as a bridge to high-quality jobs.That service experience can help Americans be morecompetitive in the global marketplace—providingvaluable skills, perspectives, social networks andincentives for their future careers.President Reagan with the first group of Peace Corps Volunteers to return from Grenadaafter a 6 year absence in the country, 1985. ©Peace Corps.Innovation and Technology – Social innovationsand new technologies are strengthening the reach andimpact of international volunteer service. With theclick of a mouse, individuals can find serviceopportunities in countries around the world. Withthe use of new technologies, volunteers can be moreefficient and effective in meeting urgent needs.We will work to ignite more social innovation anduse of new technologies to strengthen internationalvolunteer service.Fiscal Responsibility – Given the present fiscalcrisis and the many urgent needs of our country, wemust be innovative in achieving our goals and show ahigh return on investment. Through partnerships withNGOs, the cost of supporting volunteers overseas canbe reduced. Where possible, we hope Congress willdraw funds for expanded international service fromexisting funding streams, making such volunteer servicea core component of existing programs. In buildingpublic-private partnerships, we can increase the privateand independent sectors’ share of funding and ensuregovernment resources are well leveraged.Measurable Results – We will focus on achievablegoals, establish effective measures of accountability,and report on results. These efforts will includeassessments of the participation in international serviceamong the U.S. population over 16, as conducted bythe U.S. Census Bureau’s annual survey and reportedby the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; internationalA CALL TO PEACE SEPTEMBER 201129|