22 U.S.C. § 4028 | Training for Foreign Service officers

(a)

Human rights, religious freedom, and human trafficking training

(1)

In general

section 6411(b) of this titleJanuary 1, 1999The Secretary of State, with the assistance of other relevant officials, such as the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom appointed under , the Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking, and the director of the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center, shall establish as part of the standard training provided after , for officers of the Service, including chiefs of mission, instruction in the field of internationally recognized human rights. Such training shall include—

(A)

instruction on international documents and United States policy in human rights, which shall be mandatory for all members of the Service having reporting responsibilities relating to human rights and for chiefs of mission;

(B)

instruction on the internationally recognized right to freedom of religion, the nature, activities, and beliefs of different religions, and the various aspects and manifestations of violations of religious freedom;

(C)

Public Law 106–386 22 U.S.C. 7101 instruction on international documents and United States policy on trafficking in persons, including provisions of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (division A of ; et seq.) which may affect the United States bilateral relationships; and

(D)

for Foreign Service Officers who will be assigned to a country experiencing or at risk of mass atrocities, as determined by the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence and relevant civil society organizations, instruction on recognizing patterns of escalation and early warning signs of potential atrocities, and methods of preventing and responding to atrocities, including conflict assessment methods, peacebuilding, mediation for prevention, early action and response, and appropriate transitional justice measures to address atrocities.

(2)

Religious freedom training

(A)

In general

December 16, 2016In carrying out the training required under paragraph (1)(B), the Director of the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center shall, not later than the one year after , conduct training on religious freedom for all Foreign Service officers, including all entry level officers, all officers prior to departure for posting outside the United States, and all outgoing deputy chiefs of mission and ambassadors. Such training shall be included in—

(i)

the A–100 course attended by all Foreign Service officers;

(ii)

the courses required of every Foreign Service officer prior to a posting outside the United States, with segments tailored to the particular religious demography, religious freedom conditions, and United States strategies for advancing religious freedom, in each receiving country; and

(iii)

the courses required of all outgoing deputy chiefs of mission and ambassadors.

(B)

Development of curriculum

section 6431(a) of this titleIn carrying out the training required under paragraph (1)(B), the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, in coordination with the Director of the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center and other Federal officials, as appropriate, and in consultation with the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom established under , shall make recommendations to the Secretary of State regarding a curriculum for the training of United States Foreign Service officers under paragraph (1)(B) on the scope and strategic value of international religious freedom, how violations of international religious freedom harm fundamental United States interests, how the advancement of international religious freedom can advance such interests, how United States international religious freedom policy should be carried out in practice by United States diplomats and other Foreign Service officers, and the relevance and relationship of international religious freedom to United States defense, diplomacy, development, and public affairs efforts. The Secretary of State should ensure the availability of sufficient resources to develop and implement such curriculum.

(C)

Information sharing

The curriculum and training materials developed under this paragraph shall be shared with the United States Armed Forces and other Federal departments and agencies with personnel who are stationed overseas, as appropriate, to provide training on—

(i)

United States religious freedom policies;

(ii)

religious traditions;

(iii)

religious engagement strategies;

(iv)

religious and cultural issues; and

(v)

efforts to counter violent religious extremism.

(b)

Refugees

The Secretary of State shall provide sessions on refugee law and adjudications and on religious persecution to each individual seeking a commission as a United States consular officer. The Secretary shall also ensure that any member of the Service who is assigned to a position that may be called upon to assess requests for consideration for refugee admissions, including any consular officer, has completed training on refugee law and refugee adjudications in addition to the training required in this section.

(c)

Child soldiers

The Secretary of State, with the assistance of other relevant officials, shall establish as part of the standard training provided for chiefs of mission, deputy chiefs of mission, and other officers of the Service who are or will be involved in the assessment of child soldier use or the drafting of the annual Human Rights Report instruction on matters related to child soldiers, and the substance of the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008.

(d)

Economic and commercial diplomacy

The Secretary of State, with the assistance of other relevant officials and the private sector, shall establish as part of the standard training provided for economic and commercial officers of the Foreign Service, chiefs of mission, and deputy chiefs of mission, training on matters related to economic and commercial diplomacy, with particular attention to market access and other elements of an enabling framework for United States businesses, commercial advocacy, and United States foreign economic policy, in addition to awareness about the support of the United States Government available to United States businesses, including support provided by the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Trade and Development Agency, the Department of the Treasury, the United States Agency for International Development, and the United States International Development Finance Corporation.

(e)

Training in multilateral diplomacy

(1)

In general

The Secretary, in consultation with other senior officials as appropriate, shall establish training courses on—

(A)

the conduct of diplomacy at international organizations and other multilateral institutions; and

(B)

broad-based multilateral negotiations of international instruments.

(2)

Required training

Members of the Service, including appropriate chiefs of mission and other officers who are assigned to United States missions representing the United States to international organizations and other multilateral institutions or who are assigned in other positions that have as their primary responsibility formulation of policy related to such organizations and institutions, or participation in negotiations of international instruments, shall receive specialized training in the areas described in paragraph (1) prior to the beginning of service for such assignment or, if receiving such training at that time is not practical, within the first year of beginning such assignment.

Pub. L. 96–465, title I, § 708 Pub. L. 105–292, title I, § 104Oct. 27, 1998112 Stat. 2795 Pub. L. 107–132, § 2(b)Jan. 16, 2002115 Stat. 2412 Pub. L. 109–164, title I, § 104(d)Jan. 10, 2006119 Stat. 3565 Pub. L. 110–457, title IV, § 406Dec. 23, 2008122 Stat. 5091 Pub. L. 114–281, title I, § 103(a)Dec. 16, 2016130 Stat. 1430 Pub. L. 115–441, § 4Jan. 14, 2019132 Stat. 5587 Pub. L. 116–94, div. J, title VII, § 705Dec. 20, 2019133 Stat. 3071 Pub. L. 118–31, div. F, title LXVII, § 6702(a)Dec. 22, 2023137 Stat. 1015(, as added and amended , title VI, § 602(b), , , 2812; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , .)

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Pub. L. 106–386Oct. 28, 2000114 Stat. 1466 section 7101 of this titleThe Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, referred to in subsec. (a)(1)(C), is div. A of , , , which is classified principally to chapter 78 (§ 7101 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under and Tables.

Pub. L. 110–457Dec. 23, 2008122 Stat. 5087 section 2151 of this titleThe Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008, referred to in subsec. (c), is title IV of , , , which is classified principally to sections 2370c to 2370c–2 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title of 2008 Amendment note set out under and Tables.

Amendments

Pub. L. 118–312023—Subsec. (e). added subsec. (e).

Pub. L. 115–4412019—Subsec. (a)(1)(D). added subpar. (D).

Pub. L. 116–94Subsec. (d). added subsec. (d).

Pub. L. 114–281, § 103(a)(1)2016—Subsec. (a). , inserted subsec. heading, designated existing provisions as par. (1) and inserted par. heading, redesignated former pars. (1) to (3) as subpars. (A) to (C), respectively, and added par. (2).

Pub. L. 114–281, § 103(a)(2)Subsecs. (b), (c). , (3), inserted headings.

Pub. L. 110–4572008—Subsec. (c). added subsec. (c).

Pub. L. 109–164 section 6411(b) of this title2006—Subsec. (a). inserted “, the Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking,” after “” in introductory provisions and added par. (3).

Pub. L. 107–1322002—Subsec. (a). inserted “George P. Shultz” after “director of the” in introductory provisions.

Pub. L. 105–292, § 602(b)1998—, designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and added subsec. (b).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 2008 Amendment

Pub. L. 110–457Dec. 23, 2008section 407 of Pub. L. 110–457 section 2370c of this titleAmendment by effective 180 days after , see , set out as an Effective Date note under .

Economic and Commercial Diplomacy Training

Pub. L. 118–47, div. F, title VII, § 7028(b)Mar. 23, 2024138 Stat. 778

Public Law 116–94“In carrying out section 705 of title VII of division J of [amending this section], the Secretary of State shall annually assess training needs across the economic and commercial diplomacy issue areas and ensure, after a review of course offerings, course attendance records, and course evaluation results, that current offerings meet training needs.”

, , , provided that:

Training for Department Employees

Pub. L. 118–31, div. F, title LXVII, § 6702(b)Dec. 22, 2023137 Stat. 1015

22 U.S.C. 4028(e)(2)“The Secretary of State shall ensure that employees of the Department of State who are assigned to positions described in paragraph (2) of subsection (e) of section 708 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 [] (as added by subsection (a) of this section), including members of the civil service or general service, or who are seconded to international organizations for a period of at least one year, receive training described in such subsection and participate in other such courses as the Secretary may recommend to build or augment identifiable skills that would be useful for such Department officials representing United States interests at these institutions and organizations.”

, , , provided that: