State Department: Staffing Shortfalls and Ineffective Assignment System Compromise Diplomatic Readiness at Hardship Posts.

摘要

Foreign Service employees from the Department of State experience a variety of adverse environmental and living conditions while assigned to U.S. embassies and consulates that are considered hardship posts. Among these conditions are inadequate medical facilities, few opportunities for spousal employment, poor schools, high levels of crime, and severe climate. State has designated about 60 percent of its 259 diplomatic posts worldwide as hardship posts. Many of these posts are of strategic interest to the United States, including those in China, the Middle East, and the former Soviet states. In response to your request to review State's performance in filling positions at hardship posts, we examined (1) the number, experience, and skills of staff in hardship positions and how these may affect diplomatic readiness and (2) how well State's assignment system is meeting the staffing requirements of hardship posts.