The United States Monday released its first-ever strategy to anticipate, prevent and respond to atrocities at home and abroad. The Biden administration released the strategy due in part to ongoing human rights offenses in Ukraine.

President Biden has committed his administration to promoting democratic values through the defense of human rights around the world. In promoting atrocity prevention, the US has released several strategies including the US Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability and the US Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security. Monday’s strategy, titled the US Strategy to Anticipate, Prevent, and Respond to Atrocities, is the latest.

The strategy defines how the Atrocity Prevention Task Force, an interagency committee focused on identifying and preventing atrocities in countries most at risk for atrocities, operates. The task force will operate as a sort of steering committee for US efforts before, during and after atrocities by defining how best to support countries and regions impacted by atrocities.

The strategy defines three goals: pursue early action and locally driven solutions to prevent, respond and recovery from atrocities; develop partnerships to promote international cooperation, civil engagement and strategic public messaging; and manage and enable effective, integrated US government atrocity prevention architecture. While the strategy relies on action from the Atrocity Prevention Task Force, the effort will be led by the White House National Security Council (NSC). The NSC is a policy team of the President’s senior advisors and cabinet officials responsible for decision making at the national and international level.

Like the NSC, the task force will rely on representatives from the Department of State, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, Department of the Treasury, Federal Bureau of Investigation, US Agency for International Development and the Intelligence Community.

To measure the strategy’s effectiveness, the task force will produce an internal work plan which will feed into the annual congressional report required by the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018.