August 4, 2011
Statement of Former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and Former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen on the Announcement of the Presidential Study Directive on Mass Atrocities
The co-chairs of the Genocide Prevention Task Force welcome President Obama's directive to strengthen our government's response to actual or threatened mass violations of human rights.

March 18, 2010
Speech by USIP President Richard Solomon
USIP President Richard Solomon delivered a speech entitled, "Confronting the Challenge of Political Will," at Vanderbilt University in which he talked about the Genocide Prevention Task Force.

June 8, 2009
Update: Six Months after the Release of the Final Report

U.S. government actions in response to Task Force recommendations:

• Statements by the Obama administration: In commemoration of the Holocaust Days of Remembrance, on April 23 President Obama spoke of his “commitment as President” to “[do] everything we can to prevent and end atrocities like those that took place in Rwanda, those taking place in Darfur.” Vice President Biden gave a speech at an event hosted by USHMM on April 22, echoing key themes of the Task Force report, including asserting that preventing genocide is a high national security priority for the United States. In a speech in Vienna on June 15, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan E. Rice described the Task Force report as “crucial work” toward the prevention of atrocities in the future. These statements represent progress, but remain short of the clear demonstration of presidential priority that the Task Force report urged.
• On June 10, the House passed HR 2410, the House Foreign Relations Authorization Act which included language from Rep. Berman specifically referring to the Task Force report and requiring the administration to submit a report “outlining specific plans for the development of a government-wide strategy and the strengthening of United States civilian capacities for preventing genocide and mass atrocities against civilians.” Led by Sen. Kerry’s office, the Senate is currently considering options for promoting genocide prevention through the authorization bill.
• In response to a letter from Sen. Feinstein accompanying the Task Force report, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair committed to action on a number of the recommendations on intelligence and early warning, including preparing this year a coordinated national intelligence product addressing countries at risk of genocide in the next three-to-five years, and agreeing to highlight countries at risk of genocide in his annual threat assessment testimony to Congress. The National Intelligence Council is also in the early stages of organizing a major international conference to explore the development of a network to enhance early warning, which is in direct response to Task Force recommendations.
• The President’s budget requests increased funding for diplomatic capacity and expanded contingency funds that could be used for genocide prevention, consistent with the Task Force report’s recommendations.

Continuing activities by the convening organizations and others to promote the Task Force recommendations:

• Genocide Prevention Working Group: USIP, USHMM and AAD are organizing a series of private roundtable discussions to serve as an ongoing forum for dialogue between U.S. government officials and other experts related to preventing genocide. The first session looked at a Hungarian proposal for a new genocide prevention center in Budapest, and the second examined the upcoming debate at the UN General Assembly on “responsibility to protect.”
• Advocacy on behalf of the Task Force recommendations by an NGO coalition spearheaded by the Friends Committee on National Legislation, Oxfam America, the Genocide Intervention Network, Human Rights First, and several others. This coalition is particularly focused on encouraging congressional action.
• Outreach to key administration officials to brief them on the report and its recommendations.
• The American Bar Association is preparing for a vote to formally endorse the Task Force report at its annual meeting in August, which would pave the way for greater engagement on promoting the recommendations, and particularly those with an international angle.
• Outreach beyond Washington: Members of the Task Force executive committee have organized public events to spotlight the Task Force findings and recommendations in Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston, as well as in London, Paris, and Brussels.

Media coverage/other statements:

• In a speech on April 19, former President Bill Clinton said, “We have a heavy obligation to prevent future genocides to keep others from dying before their time. As two of my former cabinet secretaries, Madeleine Albright and Bill Cohen, wrote in their recently released Genocide Prevention Task Force report, ‘We must honor the memory of past victims by encouraging future action. Preventing genocide is possible and striving to do so is imperative.’”
• Article by Tod Lindberg, “The Only Way to Prevent Genocide,” in Commentary and on WSJ.com in April 2009.
• Opinion piece by John Heffernan, “Genocide Prevention Rather than Response Gains Favor in Policy Circles,” on HuffingtonPost.com in May 2009.

April 23, 2009
Genocide Prevention Task Force Co-Chairs Honored at Holocaust Museum
As part of Holocaust Remembrance week, former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen were honored at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on April 22 for their work on genocide prevention.

Secretaries Albright and Cohen co-chaired the Genocide Prevention Task Force, jointly convened by USIP, the Holocaust Museum and the American Academy of Diplomacy, which released its report in December 2008.

Earlier in the week, former President Bill Clinton, speaking at the new Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, referred to the Genocide Prevention Task Force report:

"We are now more than a half century past the Holocaust, living in history's most interdependent age, in which divorcing ourselves from the problems of other people is neither moral nor a practical option…As my two former cabinet secretaries, Madeleine Albright and Bill Cohen, wrote in their recently released Genocide Prevention Task Force report, 'We must honor the memory of past victims by encouraging future action. Preventing genocide is possible and striving to do so is imperative.'"

January 15, 2009
Genocide Prevention Task Force Report Receives Bipartisan Praise
As the nation approaches the swearing in of America's 44^th president, and as the 114^th Congress gets underway, a group of bipartisan leaders joins the Genocide Prevention Task Force's call for the new administration and congressional leaders to make preventing genocide and mass atrocities a national priority.

The Genocide Prevention Task Force, co-chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, was jointly convened by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, The American Academy of Diplomacy and the United States Institute of Peace. Its recently released report, Preventing Genocide: A Blueprint for U.S. Policymakers, offers practical recommendations on how to prevent genocide and mass atrocities.

"We are keenly aware that the incoming president's agenda will be daunting from Day One. But preventing genocide and mass atrocities is not an idealistic addition to our core foreign policy agenda. It is a moral and strategic imperative," said Secretaries Albright and Cohen.

December 8, 2008
Genocide Prevention Task Force Delivers Blueprint for U.S. Government to Prevent Genocide and Mass Atrocities
The Genocide Prevention Task Force today released its final report on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The report makes the case for why genocide and mass atrocities threaten core American values and national interests, and how the U.S. government can prevent these crimes in the future.

Jointly convened by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, The American Academy of Diplomacy, and the United States Institute of Peace, the Task Force began its work last November with the goal of generating concrete recommendations to enhance the U.S. government's capacity to recognize and respond to emerging threats of genocide and mass atrocities.

"The world agrees that genocide is unacceptable and yet genocide and mass killings continue," said Madeleine K. Albright, former Secretary of State and Co-Chair of the Genocide Prevention Task Force. "We believe that preventing genocide is possible, and that striving to do so is imperative both for our national interests and our leadership position in the world."

March 17, 2008
Statement from Madeleine Albright and William Cohen, Co-Chairs of the Genocide Prevention Task Force on the Passing of Task Force Member Julia Taft
It is with great sadness that we learned this weekend of the passing of Julia Taft, a member of our Genocide Prevention Task Force. Julia Taft led a life of public service, dedicated to work inside and outside of our government, at the United Nations and throughout the world as a champion for improving the lives of others. She will be greatly missed. As a member of our Task Force, Julia brought intense focus and energy to the work of genocide prevention, even as she struggled with her own illness in the last few months. We hope we can honor her contributions with a good report, worthy of her name. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Taft family.

November 13, 2007
Madeleine Albright and William Cohen to Co-Chair Genocide Prevention Task Force
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Secretary of Defense William Cohen announced in November 2007 that they would co-chair a Genocide Prevention Task Force jointly convened by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the American Academy of Diplomacy, and the United States Institute of Peace. The Task Force will generate practical recommendations to enhance the U.S. government's capacity to respond to emerging threats of genocide and mass atrocities.