Angelina Jolie steps down from role as special envoy for United Nations refugee agency to work with those 'directly affected by conflict'
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- Published on Saturday, 17 December 2022 08:24
- Written by Daily mail
Angelina Jolie uploaded a heartfelt statement on Instagram on Friday to share she was 'stepping down' from her role as a United Nations refugee agency envoy after 21 years in order to work more closely with those 'directly affected.'The actress, 47, penned a message to her followers to open up about her departure, adding that the, 'UNHCR is full of amazing people.' The star, who recently traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with politicians to discuss crime victim legislation, also explained that she was 'dedicated' to working with refugees 'for the rest of my life.' The actress uploaded a throwback photo of herself amidst her role as a refugee envoy for the U.N., along with a meaningful message. 'After over 20 years, I am stepping down today from my work with the UN Refugee Agency,' she announced. 'I believe in many things the UN does, particularly the lives it saves through emergency relief.' Angelina added that the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) has 'amazing people' involved who strive to make, 'a difference to people’s lives every day.' The star wholeheartedly expressed that, 'Refugees are the people I admire most in the world and I am dedicated to working with them for the rest of my life.' Angelina then gave her reasoning for stepping down from her envoy role, explaining that she, 'will be working now with organizations led by people most directly affected by conflict, that give the greatest voice to them.' The United Nations refugee agency and the Oscar winner also released a joint statement on Friday expressing that the actress will still work, 'to engage on a broader set of humanitarian and human rights issues.' Jolie first started working with the U.N. refugee agency in 2001 and was appointed its special envoy in 2012 - she was among the most high-profile of the organization's ambassadors.The star 'carried out more than 60 field missions to bear witness to stories of suffering as well as hope and resilience', said the U.N, and had most recently traveled to Burkina Faso.U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said: 'After a long and successful time with UNHCR, I appreciate her desire to shift her engagement and support her decision.'I know the refugee cause will remain close to her heart, and I am certain she will bring the same passion and attention to a wider humanitarian portfolio.'In an opinion piece published in The Guardian last month, Jolie alluded to frustration with the lack of global progress in ending sexual violence in conflict. She had written that, 'when it comes to hard choices about how to implement these promises, we run into the same problems time and again.'Jolie began visiting refugee camps in 2001, and was appointed as a UNHCR goodwill ambassador that same year. At the time, the then-high commissioner said he hoped the then-26-year-old actress could direct young people's attention to the plight of refugees.On Thursday, Angelina shared a post showing her involvement to advocate for crime victim legislation. She revealed that she had traveled to Washington D.C. to discuss the topic with politicians along with her 17-year-old daughter, Zahara. The photo uploaded in the post shows the actress and her daughter conversing with the President pro tempore of the United States Senate, Patrick Leahy. In the caption, the Girl, Interrupted star wrote that she was advocating to, 'urge Congress to pass essential protections for abuse survivors and children in the end-of-year bill package.' She then listed five main points that could be offered, including 'ending the rape kit backlog,' and giving, 'crime survivors the right to their evidence and federal agency or police reports.'
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source : Daily mail 
Angelina Jolie looks every bit the proud parent as she shares snap of daughter Zahara, 17, meeting politicians on Capitol Hill to advocate for crime victim legislation
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- Published on Thursday, 15 December 2022 17:40
- Written by Daily mail
Angelina Jolie brought daughter Zahara, 17, to Washington DC as they advocated for crime victim legislation.The 47-year-old actress and the teenager born in Hawassa, Ethiopia - who were seen on an outing together in Los Angeles on Monday - were on Capitol Hill to talk to members of congress.Angelina took to Instagram to share a snap of Zahara chatting with President pro tempore of the United States Senate Patrick Leahy as they advocated for the Justice for All Reauthorization Act of 2022.The Tomb Raider star looked every bit the proud parent as she stared adoringly at her child as she chatted up the senior United States senator from Vermont. She shared a lengthy caption about the piece of legislation that aims to protect crime victims which began: 'I’m in DC this week supporting and working with the many people affected by and fighting for these issues as we jointly urge Congress to pass essential protections for abuse survivors and children in the end-of-year bill package.'There are many parts of the measure as it would create a new victims' right to evidence and agency reports along with aim to improve on forensic science, end the rape kit backlog, and even address racial disparities in wrongful convictions.
She listed out five key points as she wrote:
'1) To give crime survivors the right to their evidence and federal agency or police reports
'2) To end the rape kit backlog (Approximately 200,000 rape kits sit untested in police department and crime lab storage facilities across America)
'3) To improve forensic science and access to justice to exonerate innocent defendants (Black people in the U.S. are 7 times more likely than white people to be falsely convicted of serious crimes, and are significantly more likely to be the targets of police misconduct and to spend longer in prison before being exonerated)
'4) To help ensure survivors have the support and safety they vitally need (Annually, approximately 200,000 requests for DV shelter go unmet)
'5) To help states strengthen families and prevent child abuse and neglect before it occurs by prioritizing primary prevention and addressing racial bias in the child protective services system (Each year, at least 1 in 7 children experience abuse or neglect, and in 2019 alone, more than 1,800 children died in the United States due to abuse and neglect)'
The duo were busy on Capitol Hill as they also met with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in addition to embers of the White House Gender Policy Council. She concluded the message by writing: ' Join us in calling on Congress to #passJFAA #passFVPSA #passCAPTA.'Patrick Leahy & Orrin G. Hatch Justice for All Act, Family Violence Prevention & Services Act, Child Abuse Prevention & Treatment Act'.She and ex-husband Brad Pitt, 58, are parents to six children: Maddox, 21, Pax, 18, Zahara, Shiloh, 16 and twins Vivienne and Knox, 14. Pitt and Jolie, who wed in 2014 and split in 2016, have been entangled in the legal system amid battles on multiple issues over the past six years. Last week, Angelina continued to slam Brad amid their ongoing divorce battle, with the focus continuing to be on the ownership of their Chateau Miraval Winery.Brad accused her of selling her portion of the winery with the intent to willfully 'inflict harm' by entering into the sale with a total 'stranger,' thus violating their agreement.According to RadarOnline.com, who obtained court documents, Angelina slammed Brad's claims as 'frivolous, malicious, and part of a problematic pattern' as her legal team provided an update to the legal battle.Pitt claimed they both agreed not to sell their stake in the property without approving it with each other, because they were both owners. The documents added, 'Pitt's allegations that he and Ms. Jolie had a secret, unwritten, unspoken contract to a consent right on the sale of their interests in the property is directly contrary to the written record and, among other legal defects, violative of the Statute of Frauds and public policy.'This comes after an email resurfaced recently where Jolie explained the rationale behind her decision to sell her share of the property.A TikTok user under the handle @magshrts1 posted content of the email, which the Oscar-winning actress wrote in January of 2021, which Entertainment Tonight confirmed in a court document.The Those Who Wish Me Dead actress said she had written the email 'so not to get emotional' in explaining her rationale behind her decision to sell her share of the winery.'It is the place we brought the twins home to, and where we were married over a plaque in my mother's memory,' Jolie said. 'A place that held the promise of what could be and where I thought I would grow old. Even now impossible to write this without crying. I will treasure my memories of what it was a decade ago.'The Los Angeles native said that the winery 'is also the place that marks the beginning of the end of our family - and a business that is centered around alcohol.'Jolie said she had hoped the winery 'somehow it could become something that held us together' but now saw how Pitt 'really wanted [her] out and will most likely be pleased to receive this email.'
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source : Daily mail
Angelina Jolie shares photos from her trip to Pakistan after the devastating floods as she tries to help victims: 'The level of trauma is severe'
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- Published on Friday, 30 September 2022 06:33
- Written by Daily mail
Angelina Jolie visited Pakistan to support flood victims in the wake of the storm's devastation last week. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) ambassador, shared her experience on social media. 'Last week I was in Pakistan with the local organizations, to witness the devastation caused by severe flooding which submerged 1/3 of the country’s land,' the actor penned.'I've never seen anything like this and I have been to Pakistan many times,' she previously shared.'I am absolutely with you in pushing the international community to do more. I feel that we say that often... we speak of aid appeals, relief and support but this is something very, very different,' she added.She concluded, 'Push governments to understand that lack of fair trade, rising emissions and failure to address conflicts are causing more death and suffering to millions of families around the world.' 'I think this is a real wake-up call to the world about where we are at,' she told a meeting of civil and military officials in the capital Islamabad.The Hollywood star has also shown her support for the women and protesters in Iran.On Wednesday, the actress and humanitarian shared a series of photos from the wave of protests in the country following the death of Masa Ammini at the hands of morality police. 'Respect to the brave, defiant, fearless women of Iran,' Jolie wrote in the caption. 'All those who have survived and resisted for decades, those taking to the streets today, and Mahsa Amini and all young Iranians like her.'Women don't need their morals policed, their minds re-educated, or their bodies controlled. They need freedom to live and breathe without violence or threats,' Jolie, 47, continued. 'To the women of Iran, we see you #WomanLifeFreedom #MahsaAmini,' Jolie added. Iranian women have been burning their hijabs or cutting their hair in protest. Jolie is still in the middle of a custody battle with her ex-husband Brad Pitt. He is reportedly dating model Emily Ratajkowski.
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source : Daily mail
'I've never seen anything like this': Angelina Jolie visits flood-ravaged Pakistan and calls for more international aid as she meets victims
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- Published on Friday, 23 September 2022 15:54
- Written by Daily mail
Hollywood star and humanitarian Angelina Jolie has said the flood disaster in Pakistan should be a 'wake-up call' for the world regarding climate change, calling for more international aid after meeting with victims.Pakistan has been lashed by unprecedented monsoon downpours that flooded a third of the country - an area the size of the United Kingdom - and killed nearly 1,600 people, according to the latest government figures.More than seven million people have been displaced, many living in makeshift tents without protection from mosquitoes, and often with little access to clean drinking water or washing facilities.'I've never seen anything like this,' said Jolie, who previously visited Pakistan to meet the victims of the devastating 2010 floods and a deadly 2005 earthquake, in footage released on Thursday.'I am absolutely with you in pushing the international community to do more... I think this is a real wake-up call to the world about where we are at,' she told a meeting of civil and military officials in the capital Islamabad.'Climate change is not only real and it's not only coming, it's very much here.'Jolie, who represents the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), visited southern Sindh province, one of the worst-affected areas, where she met with displaced flood victims living in camps.The United Nations has warned of a 'second disaster' from diseases such as dengue, malaria, cholera and diarrhoea, as well as from malnutrition.'I have been speaking to people and thinking that if enough aid doesn't come, they won't be here in the next few weeks, they won't make it,' said Jolie.Scientists have linked the record-breaking monsoon rains to climate change.In February, the UN released its gravest report on climate change yet, saying the window of opportunity to save the planet is 'rapidly closing.' The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report claimed that rising temperatures are now affecting all living things. The report said if global warming isn't limited to just another couple tenths of a degree, an Earth now struck regularly by deadly heat, fires, floods and drought in future decades will degrade in 127 ways with some being 'potentially irreversible'.'The cumulative scientific evidence is unequivocal: Climate change is a threat to human well-being and planetary health,' the report said. Delaying cuts in heat-trapping carbon emissions and waiting on adapting to warming's impacts, it warns, 'will miss a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all.' Today's children who may still be alive in the year 2100 are going to experience four times more climate extremes than they do now even with only a few more tenths of a degree of warming over today's heat. But if temperatures increase nearly 2 more degrees Celsius from now (3.4 degrees Fahrenheit) they would feel five times the floods, storms, drought and heat waves, according to the collection of scientists at the IPCC.Already at least 3.3 billion people's daily lives 'are highly vulnerable to climate change' and 15 times more likely to die from extreme weather, the report says.
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source : Daily mail
Angelina Jolie set to visit flood-ravaged Pakistan to 'witness and gain understanding' of humanitarian crisis considered 'worst disaster of this decade'
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- Published on Wednesday, 21 September 2022 04:59
- Written by Daily mail
Angelina Jolie is set for yet another humanitarian effort as she will be visiting Pakistan which has been ravaged by floods amid a devastating humanitarian crisis. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) said in a statement on Monday that the 47-year-old actress will be arriving in the South Asian country to draw attention to the natural disaster which is threatening the lives of millions. Jolie 'is visiting to witness and gain understanding of the situation, and to hear from people affected directly about their needs, and about steps to prevent such suffering in the future,' according to the statement.The floods were caused by a record of monsoon rains and melting glaciers in Pakistan's northern mountain regions which have submerged a third of the country's land.The death toll from the deluge itself has touched 1,559, including 551 children and 318 women, which does not include the disease deaths, the country's disaster management agency said. An intense and long monsoon dumped around three times as much rain on Pakistan than on average in recent weeks, flooded large swathes of the country. The torrential monsoon was a one in a hundred-year event likely made more intense by climate change, scientists say. Pakistan's minister for climate change Sherry Rehman described the situation as 'the worst humanitarian disaster of this decade.' As they are asking for urgent international help in providing food, tents, and medicines, Jolie will visit the IRC's response operations and local organizations which are assisting the displaced people. The statement said that the A-lister 'will see first hand how countries like Pakistan are paying the greatest cost for a crisis they did not cause. 'The IRC hopes her visit will shed light on this issue and prompt the international community – particularly states contributing the most to carbon emissions – to act and provide urgent support to countries bearing the brunt of the climate crisis.'This will be Jolie's third visit to the country according to the IRC as she had visited in 2005 and 2010 following natural disasters. On Tuesday it was reported that at least nine more people died from water-borne diseases that have attacked tens of thousands of displaced people living in areas devastated by the Pakistan floods, officials said, warning they risked losing control of the spread of infections. Hundreds of people may have died from diseases spreading after the flooding, authorities in the southern Sindh region said, with villagers there saying potable water shortages meant they were drinking and cooking with flood water. The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the 'wave of disease and death' has a 'potential for a second disaster' following the flooding.Standing water enables mosquitoes to breed and spread vector- borne diseases such as malaria and dengue, it said. As flood waters spread over hundreds of kilometers start to recede, which officials say may take two to six months, stagnant waters have led to diseases like malaria, dengue fever, diarrhoea and skin problems, mainly in Sindh - the worst hit by the floods. The Sindh provincial government said nine people died of gastroenteritis, acute diarrhoea and suspected malaria on Monday. It has reported a total of 318 deaths from diseases since July 1. The report said over 72,000 patients were treated on Monday at makeshift or mobile hospitals set up in flood-hit regions. Over 2.7 million people have been treated at these facilities since July 1, the report said.Jolie is as known for her humanitarian efforts as she is her acting due to all the work she has done over decades including in Cambodia. Jolie's family has strong ties to the country as she adopted eldest child Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt, 21, from the country and even founded a non-profit charity organization dedicated to environmental security, improving health, and creating peace and stability in all communities in his name called the Maddox Jolie-Pitt (MJP) Foundation.Angelina first witnessed the effects of the humanitarian crisis in war-torn Cambodia while filming 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. She later bought a home in the country in 2003 in order to connect son Maddox with his heritage in an area which had become infiltrated with poachers and threatened endangered species so she purchased it and turned it into a wildlife reserve paving the way for the MJP foundation. In recognition of her conservation efforts King Norodom Sihamoni awarded her Cambodian citizenship on July 31, 2005.Jolie has also served more than two decades as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Goodwill Ambassador for over two decades.
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source : Daily mail
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