WASHINGTON, June 21: The reluctance of US diplomats to serve in difficult posts abroad, combined with a lack of qualified State Department personnel, has put the practice of US foreign policy at risk, according to a report sent to Congress this week.

In addition, the department’s system in which “hardship” or otherwise dangerous positions at overseas missions are filled — which allows diplomats to bid or select their preference of jobs — has compounded the problem, according to the report by the General Accounting Office (GAO).

“These shortfalls, according to ambassadors and senior post officials, compromise diplomatic readiness,” the GAO said in the report, released on Wednesday after a survey of various State Department facilities abroad.

The situation is often most acute in embassies and consulates in countries which are of critical importance to US foreign policy goals — notably Russia, China, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan — and in many African nations where Washington is placing new emphasis because of the war on terrorism, the report found.

“Without a comprehensive, strategic approach to marshalling and managing State’s human capital, there is little assurance that State will be able to place the right people in the right posts at the right time,” it said.

“As a result, diplomatic readiness could be at risk in hardship posts, many of them of significant importance to the United States,” the report said.

Hardship posts are positions for which the department pays diplomats an additional five Per cent to 25 Per cent of their base pay due to poor conditions such as substandard schools and medical facilities, severe climate, political instability, isolation and crime.

About 60 Per cent of State Department positions overseas — most of them in Africa, Eastern Europe and Eurasia — are considered hardship posts, according to the report.

Some 12.5 Per cent of those positions are vacant, compared with 8.4 Per cent of non-hardship posts, it found.

One reason for the higher vacancy rate is the bidding system, which allows diplomats to pick and choose their jobs, and the fact that they are rarely ordered to take up a hardship position, the report said.

It noted that, in 2002, diplomats bid overwhelmingly for jobs in Washington or in capitals or other major cities in developed countries, such as London, Toronto, Canberra, Madrid and The Hague. Between 25 and 40 diplomats bid for posts in these cities, it said.

By contrast, posts in cities such as Karachi, Saint Petersburg, Shenyang, Lagos, Kiev and Jeddah received on average only one or two bids, and often none at all, it said.

“State’s assignment system is not effective in staffing hardship posts,” the report said. “While foreign service employees are expected to be available to serve worldwide, very few bid on positions at some hardship posts, and very few ... are forced to take assignments they have not bid on.”—AFP