General Information
A Citizen Liaison Volunteer is a private U.S. citizen who volunteers to assist the American Citizen Services section in communicating with Americans in Equatorial Guinea, preparing for disasters and alerting Americans to emergency situations. This provides a reliable way to reach American citizens in the event of an emergency as well as facilitate the distribution of routine administrative information. Citizen Liaison Volunteers provide updates on ongoing events to Americans in their district and organizations and assist in the enrollment of newcomers in the Department of State’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) program. In emergencies, Citizen Liaison Volunteers may be called upon to help locate missing Americans, or visit an American citizen in a jail or hospital.
Other Citizen Liaison Volunteer responsibilities include:
- Preparing, updating and maintaining a list of phone numbers and addresses (including email addresses) of U.S. citizens residing in their area.
- Assisting the American Citizens Services section of the U.S. Embassy in selecting assembly areas and movement routes for use in the event of an evacuation in the their area. Share this information with U.S. citizens in the area.
- Citizen Liaison Volunteers can also perform some functions on behalf of the Embassy to assist Americans in distress. For example, if the Consular Section receives a report that an American has been injured far from the U.S. Embassy or on the mainland, the Consular Section could ask a Citizen Liaison Volunteer in the area to visit the injured person in the hospital and report back on his/her condition.
- As local residents, some Citizen Liaison Volunteers may have useful contacts that they can call on for information and/or assistance in their areas. They can provide advice or information on local conditions to the Consular Officer or perform specific services, such as taking possession of a deceased’s American’s belongings.
If you are interested in becoming a Citizen Liaison Volunteer, please contact us.
Who is a Citizen Liaison Volunteer?
Citizen Liaison Volunteers provide important, timely safety and security information, which might include the times and locations of upcoming local demonstrations, areas of potential unrest due to local celebrations or elections, or information about a specific medical issue.
- A private American citizen resident in a foreign country who volunteers to assist consular sections in disaster preparedness, welfare & whereabouts, and alerting fellow Americans to emergency situations.
- Citizen Liaison Volunteers often have close ties to the U.S. expat community; therefore they are often the fastest and most effective route to distributing information to Americans and are essential when normal communication channels fail.
- They facilitate distribution of routine administrative information (changes in section work hours, procedures, embassy closures, and voting information) of interest to the U.S. private community.
- Providing updates about situations in their district.
- Assisting/encouraging the registration of newcomers in STEP.
- Assisting in crisis: natural disasters, civil unrest, etc.
- Alerting American citizens without immediate e-mail or internet access to emergency
situations. - Disseminating information about routine topics such as voter registration, income taxes, etc. If you are interested in serving as a Citizen Liaison Volunteer, please email malaboconsular@state.gov.
- Click here for a formal write-up of the job responsibilities.
American Liaison Network Communication
The U.S. State Department is constantly looking for new ways to distribute information to the public, so we are open to suggestions. U.S. Embassies and Consulates worldwide rely on different communication methods to disseminate information to wardens and stay in touch with them:
- Email/ text messages (SMS) are the most commonly used.
- Telephone, radios and faxes: in distant locations that lack the infrastructure and communication technology.
- Community online blogs and social networks (e.g., within your housing community or employee
association, and sharing from our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages.