Julia Taft

In 2004, Julia Taft retired from her position as the Assistant Administrator and Director in the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR) in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) which addresses issues of crisis prevention, post-conflict recovery, institution-building and natural disaster mitigation. In January 2002, she headed the UNDP Task Force, coordinating and formulating a single, coherent recovery effort for Afghanistan in support of the work of the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Afghanistan.

Prior to joining UNDP, Ms. Taft served as Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration at the United States State Department from 1997 to 2001. She has been President and Chief Executive Officer of InterAction, a coalition of 156 United States-based private, voluntary organizations working on international development, refugee assistance and humanitarian relief. Ms. Taft has received several awards, including the Presidential End Hunger Award (1989) and the AID Distinguished Service Award for Personal Courage for her relief efforts in the Armenian earthquake (1990).

Julia Taft passed away March 15, 2008 after fighting colon cancer. Click here to read the New York Times article on Julia’s outstanding contributions or click here to read about her in the Washington Post.