Core Expectations for Peace Corps Volunteers

In working toward fulfilling the Peace Corps mission of promoting world peace and friendship, as a trainee and Volunteer, you are expected to do the following:

  1. Prepare your personal and professional life to make a commitment to serve abroad for a full term of 27 months. 
  2. Commit to improving the quality of life of the people with whom you live and work and, in doing so, share your skills, adapt them, and learn new skills as needed. 
  3. Serve where the Peace Corps asks you to go, under conditions of hardship if necessary, and with the flexibility needed for effective service. 
  4. Recognize that your successful and sustainable development work is based on the local trust and confidence you build by living in, and respectfully integrating yourself into, your host community and culture. 
  5. Recognize that you are responsible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for your personal conduct and professional performance. 
  6. Engage with host country partners in a spirit of cooperation, mutual learning, and respect.
  7. Work within the rules and regulations of the Peace Corps and the local and national laws of the country where you serve. 
  8. Exercise judgment and personal responsibility to protect your health, safety, and well-being and that of others. 
  9. Recognize that you will be perceived, in your host country and community, as a representative of the people, cultures, values, and traditions of the United States of America. 
  10. Represent responsibly the people, cultures, values, and traditions of your host country and community to people in the United States both during and following your service.