Maybe they haven't seen Maleficent, Angelina? Hollywood star Jolie meets some rather unimpressed-looking novice monks on UN trip to Burma
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- Published on Saturday, 01 August 2015 04:38
- Written by Daily mail
Angelina Jolie has paid a visit to a Buddhist monastery and was pictured bowing to some young monks during the third day of her UN visit to Burma. The actress and humanitarian campaigner was there to meet with religious leaders from the Myanmar Interfaith Group in Yangon.She was also taken to watch a project run by Yaung Chi Thit - meaning 'New Life' - Voters Education Group which is aimed at protecting young people from political violence and getting them involved in democracy.Jolie had been due to visit Rakhine state today where thousands of Rohingya Muslims live in squalid conditions in slum housing and camp.However, downpours from Cyclone Komen have closed the region's airport and left large part inaccessible, so the visit has been postponed and may have to be cancelled altogether. The Oscar-winning star, who is also a special envoy for the United Nations' refugee agency, arrived in Myanmar on Wednesday on a four-day visit.She spent her first day meeting with politicians, including President Thein Sein in capital Naypyidaw before heading to Kachin state in the north yesterday, where civil war has raged since 2011.In a statement released today by the British embassy, she said: 'This visit underlined the vulnerability of women and girls living in protracted conflict situations to sexual violence, trafficking, and other human rights violations.'It was moving and humbling to meet survivors of sexual violence in Kachin State.' She said local aid groups were working hard to help victims, but added there was 'an urgent need for more medical assistance and legal and psychosocial support' as well as a 'strong legal framework to ensure all perpetrators of sexual violence are held accountable'.
Myanmar is still beset by the legacy of dozens of long-raging civil wars in its border areas, a handful of which are still being fought.The army had ruled the country with an iron fist for decades before handing power to Thein Sein's quasi-civilian government in 2011.It has long been accused of severe human rights abuses including sexual violence and using forced labour. Rebels have also been accused of abuses.Jolie's visit comes after an invitation from opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, according to the British Embassy.Officials from the embassy are working with the actress as part of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, which promotes prosecutions of sexual violence perpetrators. Jolie flew to Myanmar after a brief visit to Cambodia where she plans to direct a film for Netflix about Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime seen through the eyes of a war-scarred child.She was accompanied for that portion of the trip by her 14-year-old son Maddox, who was adopted from Cambodia.
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Angelina Jolie Photographed on First Day of Myanmar Visit
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- Published on Wednesday, 29 July 2015 19:23
- Written by Just Jared
Angelina Jolie-Pitt stops for a photo outside of the Myanmar Parliament Building on Tuesday (July 28) in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.The 40-year-old actress, director, and activist was taking a meeting with the Speaker of the lower house, the Burmese House of Representatives, Mr. Thura Shwe Mann during the first day of her visit to the area.“I am looking forward to meeting with many people including women’s groups, civil society, displaced people and youth, to learn firsthand from them about their concerns and hopes for the future of their country,” Angelina told People. “With elections on the horizon in November, it is an important moment for people to exercise their democratic rights and help to address the fundamental issues critical to a peaceful future.” Angelina is a Special Envoy of UN High Commissioner for Refugees since her appointment in 2012.
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Angelina – and Shiloh! – Bond with a 12-Year-Old Refugee in Lebanon
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- Published on Saturday, 20 June 2015 12:37
- Written by People
It's a special mother-daughter trip for Angelina Jolie Pitt and 9-year-old Shiloh. The mom of six brought her daughter to Lebanon on Friday to spend time with a 12-year-old Syrian girl named Hala, whom Angelina met a year ago during a trip for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees."Shiloh is very aware that I hold refugee families in high regard and has been asking to come on missions and meet them for many years," Jolie Pitt tells PEOPLE. "She had heard about Hala since my last visit to Lebanon, and has been wanting to meet her and her brothers and sisters."She continues, "It was wonderful that they were able to meet, play together, and make friends. So many refugees are children. I've often heard them say that the most painful thing is not that they have lost their homes – it is that they have lost their friends." Hala, who has no parents, lives with her five brothers and sisters in a tented settlement in the Bekka Valley. Over 50 percent of the 1.2 million refugees in Lebanon are children. Hala's situation is unfortunately representative of a growing problem. UNHCR says over 60 million people worldwide are displaced – or one in every 122 people – is either a refugee, displaced, or seeking asylum, up from 51 million last year.
"It was humbling and emotional to see Hala and her siblings again, and realize that their situation only becomes harder as time goes on, and aid for refugees is stretched beyond all limits," says Jolie Pitt. "Their memories of Syria are fading. They have stopped counting the days in displacement. Nothing is certain and they feel abandoned." She adds, "Upon leaving the family, Shiloh asked many questions. It is of course hard to explain all of the harsh realities of war and displacement. She said she felt sad, but was happy that she went and is looking forward to the next visit." After leaving Lebanon, Angelina and Shiloh are headed to Midyat Camp in Turkey to mark World Refugee Day on Saturday with UNHCR High Commissioner Antonio Guterres and meet with Syrian and Iraqi refugees before joining Brad Pitt and the rest of the family for Father's Day for a big celebration.
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Angelina Jolie arrives in SA to address AU summit
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- Published on Friday, 12 June 2015 18:50
- Written by EWN
Preparations for the African Union summit on Sunday have taken a star turn with the arrival of humanitarian/actress Angelina Jolie.Angelina Jolie will be speaking on a panel at the Sandton Convention Centre on violence against women in conflict.She has been invited by AU Commission head Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.The actress, who is a special envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, says there’s a global epidemic of violence against women which can no longer be tolerated, and must be addressed. Every individual in society has a role to play in achieving this change. (...)
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Angelina Jolie Visits Syrian Refugee Camp in Turkey
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- Published on Saturday, 20 June 2015 16:52
- Written by Just Jared
Angelina Jolie dons a classic black outfit while arriving for a visit at the Midyat refugee camp on Saturday (June 20) in Mardin, Turkey.The 40-year-old actress took the time to chat with refugees, who have fled the four-year-old conflict in Syria.PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Angelina Jolie.On the same day, Angelina, who is a special envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees Antonio Guterres, was seen shaking hands with Turkey president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.In case you didn’t know, Turkey hosts the greatest number of refugees in the world — 1.59 million.
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Angelina Jolie and son Pax, 11, visited Namibia last weekend.
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- Published on Thursday, 18 June 2015 17:59
- Written by Design Trend
The 40-year-old actress and husband Brad Pitt's charity, the Jolie-Pitt foundation, is working with the Namibian government to protect the country's wildlife. Jolie met with both President Hage Geingob and conservationist N/a'an Ku Se on her trip, according to The Namibian."It is an honour for our family to be able to support N/a'an Ku Se's mission to conserve the land, cultures and wildlife of Namibia and to rescue threatened species," Jolie said in a statement. "I look forward to working even more closely with [conservationist] Marlice and Rudie in the years to come, and with the government of Namibia, to build on the success and effectiveness of this project which hold many inspiring lessons for conservation around the world." Jolie, not only a conservationist but a humanitarian, demanded last week that the world unite in the fight against sexual violence. "There is a global epidemic of violence against women -- both within conflict zones and within societies at peace -- and it is still treated as a lesser crime and lower priority," Jolie, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said last Friday at an African Union Summit in Johannesburg (via the Huffington Post). "Women and girls are bearing the brunt of extremists that revel in treating them barbarically," Jolie continued. "This is inextricably linked to our overall failure to prevent and end conflicts worldwide, which is causing human suffering on an unprecedented level." "We need policies for long-term security that are designed by women, focused on women, executed by women," she concluded. "Not at the expense of men, or instead of men, but alongside and with men."
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Angelina Jolie blasts world powers on Syria's refugee crisis
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- Published on Saturday, 25 April 2015 10:08
- Written by CBS News
Jolie brief the council as special envoy for the U.N. on refugee issues.Syria's ambassador said simply of her presence, "She's beautiful."Nearly four million Syrians have fled the conflict into neighboring countries, which warn they are dangerously overstretched."We cannot look at Syria, and the evil that has arisen from the ashes of indecision, and think this is not the lowest point in the world's inability to protect and defend the innocent," Jolie said."We are standing by in Syria," she said, adding that the council's powers lie unused because its members cannot agree on how to address the conflict.Jolie, who said she has made 11 visits to Syrian refugees in the region since the crisis began in 2011, called strongly for the political will to act.Russia, a top Syria ally and backed by China, has vetoed multiple council resolutions on Syria, including an effort last year to refer the situation there to the International Criminal Court.Jolie said the council must now "work as one," and she said she would like to see the foreign minister of each of the 15 council members come to the table to negotiate a political solution.She also urged council members to visit Syrian refugees and see the crisis for themselves.In addition, Jolie spoke briefly about the rising migrant crisis on the Mediterranean, where more than 1,300 migrants fleeing Syria and other places have drowned at sea over the past three weeks."It is sickening to see thousands of refugees drowning on the doorstep of the world's wealthiest continent," she said. "No one risks the lives of their children in this way except out of utter desperation."In January, Jolie appealed for urgent funding to assist millions of displaced Iraqis and Syrians living in dire conditions in northern Iraq.More than 3.8 million Syrians have fled to Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, according to the UNHCR, while another 7.6 million Syrians are displaced inside the country. At least 1.8 million Iraqis were also displaced last year by violence triggered by the Sunni militant onslaught.
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