Today's Article
The US trains a host
of foreign military
personnel but often
fails to teach them to
respect human rights,
says GAO.
of foreign military
personnel but often
fails to teach them to
respect human rights,
says GAO.
The American Spark
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US Trains Foreign Troops In Combat, But Not In Human Rights
By Cliff Montgomery - Oct. 30th, 2011
The U.S. trains a host of foreign military personnel but often fails to teach them to respect human rights, states
a recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
“Seven of the twelve training managers GAO interviewed from countries that received low to moderate
rankings for political and civil freedoms said that human rights was not a priority compared to other...
objectives,” declared the study, tellingly entitled International Military Education and Training: Agencies
Should Emphasize Human Rights Training and Improve Evaluations.
The GAO report was released on Oct. 27th.
Below, The American Spark quotes the study’s highlights:
Why GAO Did This Study
“Since 1976, the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program has provided education and
training to foreign military personnel.
“The program’s [declared] objectives include professionalizing military forces and increasing respect for
democratic values and human rights.
“In 2010, Congress appropriated $108 million in IMET funding for more than 120 countries. The Department of
State (State) and the Department of Defense (DOD) share responsibility for IMET.
“In response to a mandate in the conference report accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act of
2010, this report assesses:
“GAO reviewed and analyzed agency funding, planning, and performance management documents, and
interviewed U.S. officials in Washington, D.C., and overseas.
What GAO Found
“Although IMET funding has increased by more than 70 percent since fiscal year 2000, the number of
students trained has decreased by nearly 14 percent.
“Over the last 10 years, countries in the Europe and Eurasia region have continued to receive the largest
portion of IMET funding, receiving $30 million in 2010. However, all regions have received increased IMET
funding since fiscal year 2000, with the levels of funding to the Near East and South and Central Asia regions
more than doubling from fiscal year 2000 to fiscal year 2010.
“Professional military education represents the largest single use of IMET funds—nearly 50 percent in fiscal
year 2010.
“Other major types of training funded by IMET include English language training and technical training, which
represented 13 and 11 percent, respectively, of fiscal year 2010 IMET program costs.
“Training to build respect for internationally recognized human rights standards is provided to IMET students
through various in-class and field-based courses, but human rights training was generally not identified as a
priority in the IMET country training plans GAO reviewed.
“IMET students primarily receive human rights training through human rights courses that focus on promoting
democratic values, and through a voluntary program that sends them on visits to democratically oriented
institutions.
“However, human rights and related concepts were identified as key objectives in only 11 of the 29 country
training plans GAO reviewed for IMET participant countries that received low rankings for political and civil
freedoms by Freedom House, an independent non-governmental organization.
“Furthermore, 7 of the 12 training managers GAO interviewed from countries that received low to moderate
rankings for political and civil freedoms said that human rights was not a priority compared to other IMET
objectives.
“State and DOD’s ability to assess IMET’s effectiveness is limited by several weaknesses in program
monitoring and evaluation.
“First, State and DOD have not established a performance plan for IMET that explains how the program is
expected to achieve its goals and how progress can be assessed through performance measures and targets.
“Second, State and DOD have limited information on most IMET graduates, due to weaknesses in efforts to
monitor these graduates’ careers after training. DOD has collected updated career information on only
1 percent of IMET graduates.
“Training managers identified limited resources and lack of host country cooperation as among the key
challenges to monitoring IMET graduates.
“Third, the agencies’ current evaluation efforts include few of the evaluation elements commonly accepted as
appropriate for measuring progress of training programs, and do not objectively measure how IMET
contributes to long-term, desired program outcomes.
“The agencies could incorporate existing evaluation practices, including those of other State and DOD entities,
or suggestions from training managers overseas to improve IMET monitoring and evaluation efforts.
“IMET training managers have offered suggestions for improving monitoring efforts, such as by clarifying
DOD’s monitoring guidance and strengthening DOD’s IMET data systems.
“Training managers also offered ideas to improve program evaluations, such as surveying U.S. military groups
to assess participant nations’ proficiency in key areas, assessing career progress of IMET graduates against
non-IMET graduates in specific countries, and testing students before and after training to measure changes
in knowledge or attitudes.
What GAO Recommends
“GAO recommends that the Secretaries of State and Defense:
“State and DOD both concurred with our recommendations.”
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By Cliff Montgomery - Oct. 30th, 2011
The U.S. trains a host of foreign military personnel but often fails to teach them to respect human rights, states
a recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
“Seven of the twelve training managers GAO interviewed from countries that received low to moderate
rankings for political and civil freedoms said that human rights was not a priority compared to other...
objectives,” declared the study, tellingly entitled International Military Education and Training: Agencies
Should Emphasize Human Rights Training and Improve Evaluations.
The GAO report was released on Oct. 27th.
Below, The American Spark quotes the study’s highlights:
Why GAO Did This Study
“Since 1976, the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program has provided education and
training to foreign military personnel.
“The program’s [declared] objectives include professionalizing military forces and increasing respect for
democratic values and human rights.
“In 2010, Congress appropriated $108 million in IMET funding for more than 120 countries. The Department of
State (State) and the Department of Defense (DOD) share responsibility for IMET.
“In response to a mandate in the conference report accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act of
2010, this report assesses:
- (1) changes in the program from fiscal years 2000 to 2010, by funding levels, students trained, and
recipient countries;
(2) the program’s provision of and emphasis on human rights training for its students; and
(3) the extent to which State and DOD monitor IMET graduates and evaluate program effectiveness.
“GAO reviewed and analyzed agency funding, planning, and performance management documents, and
interviewed U.S. officials in Washington, D.C., and overseas.
What GAO Found
“Although IMET funding has increased by more than 70 percent since fiscal year 2000, the number of
students trained has decreased by nearly 14 percent.
“Over the last 10 years, countries in the Europe and Eurasia region have continued to receive the largest
portion of IMET funding, receiving $30 million in 2010. However, all regions have received increased IMET
funding since fiscal year 2000, with the levels of funding to the Near East and South and Central Asia regions
more than doubling from fiscal year 2000 to fiscal year 2010.
“Professional military education represents the largest single use of IMET funds—nearly 50 percent in fiscal
year 2010.
“Other major types of training funded by IMET include English language training and technical training, which
represented 13 and 11 percent, respectively, of fiscal year 2010 IMET program costs.
“Training to build respect for internationally recognized human rights standards is provided to IMET students
through various in-class and field-based courses, but human rights training was generally not identified as a
priority in the IMET country training plans GAO reviewed.
“IMET students primarily receive human rights training through human rights courses that focus on promoting
democratic values, and through a voluntary program that sends them on visits to democratically oriented
institutions.
“However, human rights and related concepts were identified as key objectives in only 11 of the 29 country
training plans GAO reviewed for IMET participant countries that received low rankings for political and civil
freedoms by Freedom House, an independent non-governmental organization.
“Furthermore, 7 of the 12 training managers GAO interviewed from countries that received low to moderate
rankings for political and civil freedoms said that human rights was not a priority compared to other IMET
objectives.
“State and DOD’s ability to assess IMET’s effectiveness is limited by several weaknesses in program
monitoring and evaluation.
“First, State and DOD have not established a performance plan for IMET that explains how the program is
expected to achieve its goals and how progress can be assessed through performance measures and targets.
“Second, State and DOD have limited information on most IMET graduates, due to weaknesses in efforts to
monitor these graduates’ careers after training. DOD has collected updated career information on only
1 percent of IMET graduates.
“Training managers identified limited resources and lack of host country cooperation as among the key
challenges to monitoring IMET graduates.
“Third, the agencies’ current evaluation efforts include few of the evaluation elements commonly accepted as
appropriate for measuring progress of training programs, and do not objectively measure how IMET
contributes to long-term, desired program outcomes.
“The agencies could incorporate existing evaluation practices, including those of other State and DOD entities,
or suggestions from training managers overseas to improve IMET monitoring and evaluation efforts.
“IMET training managers have offered suggestions for improving monitoring efforts, such as by clarifying
DOD’s monitoring guidance and strengthening DOD’s IMET data systems.
“Training managers also offered ideas to improve program evaluations, such as surveying U.S. military groups
to assess participant nations’ proficiency in key areas, assessing career progress of IMET graduates against
non-IMET graduates in specific countries, and testing students before and after training to measure changes
in knowledge or attitudes.
What GAO Recommends
“GAO recommends that the Secretaries of State and Defense:
- (1) ensure human rights training is a priority in IMET recipient countries with known human rights
concerns, and
(2) take initial steps to begin developing a system to evaluate the effectiveness of the IMET program,
including adopting existing evaluation practices used by other State and DOD agencies and soliciting
IMET training managers for suggestions on improving monitoring and evaluation efforts.
“State and DOD both concurred with our recommendations.”
Like what you're reading so far? Then why not order a full year (52 issues) of The American Spark
e-newsletter for only $15? A major article covering an story not being told in the Corporate Press will be
delivered to your email every Monday morning for a full year, for less than 30 cents an issue. Order Now!
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