The US Committee for UNDP 

invites you to a

Reception

Tuesday, June 21, 2011, from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.

for the Presentation of the

Julia V. Taft Award for 2011

to the

UN Develoment Programme Country Office in Afghanistan

Remarks by:

UNDP Administrator Helen Clark

Canadian Ambassador to the United States Gary Doer

US Committee Chair Kenneth Wollack

Embassy of Canada

501 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, DC

About the Julia V. Taft Award

The Julia V. Taft Award is presented annually by the US Committee for UNDP to a UNDP Country Office that has demonstrated the impact of teamwork to build a more democratic, prosperous, peaceful, and secure world in a particularly challenging location. The award was established in 2009 in memory of Julia Taft, an active member of the US Committee before her untimely death from cancer in 2008. A visionary and an authority on humanitarian and international development issues, Julia Taft served as Assistant Administrator and Director in the Bureau of Crisis Prevention and Recovery at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) from 2001-2004. She previously served as Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration at the US State Department from 1997-2001, and was president and CEO of InterAction from 1993-1997. She also served as USAID Director of the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance. The Julia V. Taft award was presented to the UNDP Country Offices in Sudan and Haiti in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

The 2011 Julia V. Taft award is presented to the UNDP Country Office in Kabul for its outstanding work in Afghanistan under extremely challenging circumstances—in programs such as strengthening Afghan governance, supporting elections, empowering women, and reintegrating former combatants. In concert with the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), UNDP is playing a critical role in helping Afghan efforts to recover, rebuild, and reconcile after decades of devastating conflict.