View all text of Subchapter VII [§ 4021 - § 4030]
§ 4028. Training for Foreign Service officers
(a) Human rights, religious freedom, and human trafficking training
(1) In general
The Secretary of State, with the assistance of other relevant officials, such as the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom appointed under section 6411(b) of this title, 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 January 1, 1999, 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) 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 Public Law 106–386; 22 U.S.C. 7101 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
In 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 December 16, 2016, 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
(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
(c) Child soldiers
(d) Economic and commercial diplomacy
(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
(Pub. L. 96–465, title I, § 708, as added and amended Pub. L. 105–292, title I, § 104, title VI, § 602(b), Oct. 27, 1998, 112 Stat. 2795, 2812; Pub. L. 107–132, § 2(b), Jan. 16, 2002, 115 Stat. 2412; Pub. L. 109–164, title I, § 104(d), Jan. 10, 2006, 119 Stat. 3565; Pub. L. 110–457, title IV, § 406, Dec. 23, 2008, 122 Stat. 5091; Pub. L. 114–281, title I, § 103(a), Dec. 16, 2016, 130 Stat. 1430; Pub. L. 115–441, § 4, Jan. 14, 2019, 132 Stat. 5587; Pub. L. 116–94, div. J, title VII, § 705, Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 3071; Pub. L. 118–31, div. F, title LXVII, § 6702(a), Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 1015.)