The Foreign Service Journal, March 2009

V.P. VOICE: USAID BY FRANCISCO ZAMORA The Foreign Service’s Poor Cousin I t is hard not to feel neglected when compared to State Department employees. USAID Foreign Service officers, from the start of their employment, are treated likepoor cousins. Inspiteof the fact that thesenewemploy- ees have been selected from thousands of highly qualified applicants, they are made to feel lucky tohavebeenoffereda jobat all. Many are experiencing real financial hardship, forcing them to borrow from family and banks just to survive their Washington stay. AFSA has been fighting the tendency of the agency todobusiness “on the cheap”on thebacks of our employees. While we can point to sever- al successes,muchmoremust bedone. For exam- ple, due to our advocacy, salaries for entry-level officers are no longer restricted to the FS-6, step 1 level, but canbe set at step14, which can trans- late into asmuch as a $20,000 increase. We have also influenced the agency to pay for expenses involved in the initial interview process in Washington,whereas in thepast interviewees “ate the cost.” In addition, the agency has responded to our requests to restart the Student LoanReimbursement Program, which provides thousands of dollars of relief for new officers burdened by student loans. All of this is good, of course, but there is still a long way to go to achieve parity with the State Department. During the USAID town hall meeting on Jan. 7, which was netcastworldwide, AdministratorHenriettaFore andGeneGeorge, headof human services, committed the agency to compensationparitywith the StateDepartment for USAID employees. An e-mail question submitted during the event from an FSO in Liberia pointedout that StateDepartment employees in certain countrieswere receiv- ing increaseddifferentials in salary through theDifficult to Staff IncentiveDifferential, a program no longer available to USAID officers. The administrator expressed her concernover that inequity andpromised to address it. Mr. George stated thatUSAID is trying to reinstitute this benefit by summer 2009 at all posts where it is offered by the State Department. However, other areas still need attention to bring the agency in line with the State Department. For example, while StateA-100 entry-level officers receive per diemben- efits, newUSAIDofficers in the junior officer intake programare denied them. Instead, the agencyprovides themwith localitypay, justifying this by claiming thesenewemploy- ees are assigned toWashington. In reality, this arrangement saves the agency money and forces the newofficers to subsidize the government during their time here. Given that we plan to bring in close to 1,000 new officers during the coming years, we need to change this unfair system. We cannot afford the enormous morale issues engen- dered by these miserly policies. Thenewadministration is inauniqueposition tocorrect someof these longstanding problems. In so doing, they can clearly underscore their support for our most valu- able asset: human resources. Many are experiencing real financial hardship, forcing them to borrow from family and banks just to survive their Washington stay. MA R CH 2 0 0 9 / F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L 51 A F S A N E W S AAFSW Reconstitutes Forum Committees I n January, Foreign Service employees, family members and past and present Family Liaison Office staff met in a forum sponsored by the Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide to discuss making the FS bureaucracy more family-friendly. After a lively discussion of ideas sent in from all over the world, the AAFSW forum decided to concentrate on three areas: • Improving access to information by family members, by enabling home com- puter access to unclassified information regarding pertinent subjects such as post reports, training and the availability of part-time employment. • Facilitating EFM employment, both by centrally funding positions from State and by increasing allowances for profes- sional book shipments and space for spouses who wish to work from home. • Creating more humane maternity/ paternity policies for Foreign Service members and family members. AAFSW encourages people to continue to send their ideas for making the Foreign Service more family-friendly to Forum Chairs Judy Felt at JaJuFelt@ aol.com and Ann La Porta at a_laporta@ yahoo.com . Please indicate if you would be willing to work on a committee. AFSA NEWS BRIEFS Do We Have Your Correct Address? AFSA Governing Board elections are coming up, and we'll be sending out ballots to AFSAmembers in April. Please make sure that we have your correct mailing address. To update your address, visit us online at www. afsa.org/addressChange.cfm or send an e-mail to member@afsa.org .