Angelina Jolie calls for action to get children back to school: 'Classrooms offer protection, or at least a reprieve, from violence'
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- Published on Monday, 13 July 2020 16:54
- Written by Daily mail
Angelina Jolie is to warn that children around the world left without schooling during the coronavirus crisis may never set foot in a classroom again unless action is taken.The actress and humanitarian will call for practical assistance to ensure access to continuity of education for young people worldwide at a high-level virtual event on refugee education.'For millions of children and youth, schools are a lifeline of opportunity as well as a shield. Classrooms offer protection — or at least a reprieve — from violence, exploitation and other difficult circumstances,' she will tell a Unesco and UNHCR round-table event on Monday.Without urgent practical assistance, some of the children left without schooling worldwide due to the coronavirus may never set foot in a classroom again. 'We must find ways to try to ensure access to continuity of education for young people across the world.'Ensuring education for refugee children is something we can make happen, if we all come together.'Jolie is a special envoy for UNHCR – the United Nations refugee agency.The Prime Minister's special envoy for girls' education, Baroness Sugg, will announce £5.3 million of new UK aid to support the salaries of more than 5,500 teachers in 10 of the world's poorest refugee-hosting countries at the event.It is hoped the support will help at least 300,000 vulnerable refugee children continue their education.Around 1.5 billion children in more than 150 countries are out of school, compared to around 260 million worldwide before the coronavirus crisis.International Development Minister Baroness Sugg will say: 'Education must be prioritised in the global recovery from coronavirus. This epidemic is not just a health crisis, it is an education crisis, especially for refugee children.'Without school and an education they will be unable to rebuild their lives and achieve their full potential.'Supporting every child's right to 12 years of quality education is one of the best investments the UK can make to end the cycle of displacement, poverty and conflict, as we recover from coronavirus. We urge our partners to match our ambition.'Meanwhile, her divorce proceedings from Brad Pitt are allegedly being held up because of the coronavirus pandemic.Angelina, 45, filed for divorce nearly four years ago but the work of getting it finalized has reportedly been impeded by the impact of lockdowns.'Brad is seeing the kids but everything involved in their process of resolving legal matters between Angelina and Brad, including the courts, is slowed down because of COVID,' dished an Us Weekly insider.'With the pandemic, it has been hard for everyone, including them. The legal process is slowed because of that. They are continuing regular visits but there has not been a lot of progress in terms of resolving anything.' Angelina and Brad share six children together - Maddox, 18, Pax, 16, Zahara, 15, Shiloh, 14, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 11.Over the past two weeks Brad has been seen twice at Angelina's mansion in Los Feliz possibly signaling that their equation with each other was improving.A source told People this week that the couple are 'in a better place' in terms of co-parenting the children after their custody battle.'It’s taken them a long time, with a lot of family therapy, to get to this point. The younger kids go back and forth between their houses, and Brad loves spending as much time with them as possible. He seems much happier,' said the insider.Although they got together in 2005 they waited until 2014 to get married, only for Angelina to file for divorce in September 2016.Since then they have battled legally over custody and finances, with Angelina reportedly demanding more money than Brad wanted to give.Living arrangements also became a sticking point as Brad was allegedly preventing Angelina from moving out of the country with their children.'I would love to live abroad and will do so as soon as my children are 18,' she told Harper's Bazaar late last year for their December/January issue. 'Right now I’m having to base where their father chooses to live.'Brad has confessed to having been an alcoholic before Angelina left him but he has since gotten sober, and last year a judge granted him more time with the children.
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source : Daily mail 
Exclusive video: Angelina Jolie shares a moving message to mark 25th anniversary of Srebrenica massacre
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- Published on Monday, 13 July 2020 05:34
- Written by Harper's Bazaar
'Your generation can resist this, and it already is. This gives me hope." This weekend marks the 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre; the genocide of over 8,000 Bosniaks around the town of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War in July 1995.In memory of those who lost their lives - primarily boys and men - and the loved ones left behind, Angelina Jolie has recorded a moving message of hope for the young people who live in the region."I’m thinking today of the mothers of Srebrenica, and all the other survivors, whose husbands, brothers, sons were murdered in the genocide 25 years ago," she says. "I think too of the victims, in particular the children, who were denied the chance to live and love and have families of their own. It is a loss beyond words." Jolie, who is an honorary citizen of Sarajevo and a recipient of the Heart of Sarajevo award - presented to her for "active engagement in the complexities of the real world" back in 2011 - goes on to say that she wants to address the young people who live in the region and beyond. "You were not born when the Srebrenica massacre happened. You might wonder what it has to do with you. But the kind of hatred that led to Srebrenica still exists, as you know," she says."It lives on wherever people find excuses to single out others and deny them their rights as equal human beings. You may know this better than me."Srebrenica was a crime that did not happen overnight. It could have been prevented, even down to the last few hours." She finishes her message by calling for those listening to reject discrimination and propaganda, and to share a vision of a world based on equal rights."Your generation can resist this, and it already is. This gives me hope," she says."That is the best way we can honour the families we remember today; and the victims of persecution everywhere, with whom we can be proud to stand." Jolie chose the Bosnian War as the setting for her first film as a director, In the Land of Blood and Honey, which was released in December 2011.She has also visited Bosnia as a goodwill ambassador for the UN's refugee agency UNHCR and has funded the construction of several houses for returnees in eastern Bosnia.Watch her video message in full, above.
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source : Harper's Bazaar
Angelina Jolie urges Americans to address oppression as 'one fight' that goes beyond borders...in new essay penned for TIME magazine
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- Published on Saturday, 20 June 2020 12:49
- Written by Daily mail
In a new essay penned for TIME magazine on Thursday, Angelina Jolie urged Americans to view the ongoing fight for 'human rights and equality' as 'one fight' taking place across the world. 'As the burning injustice of discrimination and racism in America bursts to the forefront, we must also address persecution and oppression rising globally, depriving millions of their rights, their liberty and their physical safety,' began the 45-year-old actress.Jolie - who is special envoy for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees - revealed that 'nearly 80million' people globally 'have been forced from their homes by extreme persecution and violence, and are living as refugees.' The data, which was published by the U.N. Refugee Agency, is considered 'the highest number since records began, according to available data.''For the first time, forced displacement is affecting more than one percent of humanity, or 1 in every 97 people.'These are people fleeing attacks on schools and hospitals, mass sexual violence, the siege and starvation of whole cities, the murderous oppression of terrorist groups, and decades of institutionalized persecution based on religion, gender or sexuality,' wrote the Mr. And Mrs. Smith star. Jolie marveled at the fact that 'global displacement has almost doubled since 2010' and that 'more people are being forced to leave their homes on a larger scale in more places and at one of the fastest rates in living memory.' As to why the numbers have increased so rapidly, Angelina believes that the economic crash in 2008 'fueled hardship and anger and discontent' globally, which has led to a warped view of refugees. '...Refugees are often regarded as a burden, greeted with xenophobia and racism, and denigrated and dehumanized in politics and the media,' explained Angelina.
She went on to slam nations for not 'regarding human displacement as a temporary, man-made phenomenon we have the power to influence.''But from my personal experience the vast majority of refugees want to return home, and would do so, if their home countries were stable.'Working to solve the conflict in any one of the top five refugee producing countries, from Syria to Myanmar, would bring the overall number of displaced people down by millions.'She called out the United States for being 'quick to criticize the human rights records of adversaries' while staying silent 'when conflicts creating displacement and misery involve our allies.' 'When we start to pick and choose which countries or peoples we help, from our humanitarian assistance to our asylum policies, we ourselves are discriminating: assigning different levels of importance to different peoples, races, religions and ethnicities, violating the fundamental principle that we are all born equal.' Angelina believes that 'Americans are not taught enough to respect and admire the cultures and contributions of countries with histories far longer than our own.'And that without this 'deep understanding' of global cultures, Americans cannot 'have a truly deep understanding of [their] own history, and the acts [their] country was built upon.' 'What has become clear to me through my work is that the fight for human rights and equality is universal. It is one fight, wherever we live, and however different our circumstances might be.'There is a dividing line running across our world between those who have rights and freedom and those who do not. Who we choose to stand with, and how much we are prepared to change and to fight, should not stop at our borders,' she concluded.
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source : Daily mail
Angelina Jolie Donates $200,000 to NAACP Legal Defense Fund
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- Published on Sunday, 07 June 2020 09:03
- Written by Harper's Bazaar
The actress made the donation ahead of her 45th birthday. Angelina Jolie is known for her generous philanthropy, and she made no exception as she rang in her 45th birthday yesterday.Per People, the actress reportedly donated $200,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund ahead of her birthday, which she spent celebrating at home with her six children, Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, and twins Knox and Vivienne Jolie-Pitt. Jolie's donation is the latest in a slew of celebrity contributions to Black resistance causes and organizations following the May 25 murder of George Floyd and ongoing protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement across the country. "Rights don't belong to any one group to give to another. Discrimination and impunity cannot be tolerated, explained away or justified. I hope we can come together as Americans to address the deep structural wrongs in our society," said Jolie in a statement. "I stand with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in their fight for racial equality, social justice, and their call for urgent legislative reform." According to People, Jolie spent her birthday at home with family due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and made Zoom calls with friends and colleagues throughout the day. In addition to her NAACP donation, Jolie donated $1 million to No Kid Hungry to help feed youth affected by the global pandemic.
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source : Harper's Bazaar
Angelina Jolie has urged Congress to help families struggling for food during COVID-19: 'Many of these children are going hungry'
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- Published on Tuesday, 05 May 2020 15:34
- Written by Daily mail
Angelina Jolie has urged Congress to help families struggling for food.The Maleficent star has called for senior politicians to increase food stamp benefits for families across the United States in a bid to help them amidst the current coronavirus pandemic.'Many of the most vulnerable children in America have missed nearly 740 million meals at school, due to closure resulting from the rapid spread of coronavirus. With parents facing lost jobs and wages, many of these children are going hungry,' she said in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.'While strengthening the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will not alleviate all of the challenges low-income families are facing during the public health emergency, it will help ensure that fewer children go to bed hungry in our country.' It comes after Angelina penned an article about the increase in child abuse amidst the pandemic.Writing in an op-ed, she said: 'Isolating a victim from family and friends is a well-known tactic of control by abusers, meaning that the social distancing that is necessary to stop COVID-19 is one that will inadvertently fuel a direct rise in trauma and suffering for vulnerable children. 'There are already reports of a surge in domestic violence around the world, including violent killings,' said the ex-wife of Brad Pitt.'It comes at a time when children are deprived of the very support networks that help them cope: from their trusted friends and teachers to after-school sports activities and visits to a beloved relative's house that provide an escape from their abusive environment.'COVID-19 has cut children off from their friends, their regular schooling and their freedom of movement. 'With well over a billion young people living under lockdown worldwide, there has been a lot of focus on how to prevent children missing out on their education, as well as how to lift their spirits and keep them joyful in isolation.'This comes after she said it was 'impossible' to be a 'perfect' parent.
The 'star has Maddox, 18, Pax, 16, Zahara, 15, Shiloh, 13, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 11, with her ex-husband Brad Pitt, and has said parenting her children during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has taught her it's not possible to 'answer all needs' all the time.She said: 'Now, in the midst of this pandemic, I think of all the mothers and fathers with children at home. All hoping they can do everything right, answer all needs, and stay calm and positive. One thing that has helped me is to know that's impossible.'Angelina insisted children 'don't want' their parents to be 'perfect', as long as they can be 'honest' about their mistakes.She added: 'It is a lovely thing to discover that your children don't want you perfect. They just want you honest. And doing your best. In fact, the more room they have to be great where you are weak, the stronger they may become. They love you. They want to help you. So in the end, it's the team you build. And in a way, they are raising you up too. You grow together.'The 44-year-old star also reflected on her 'decision to become a parent' when she adopted Maddox from Cambodia in 2002, and said it 'wasn't hard' to 'dedicate' her life to another human being.Writing in TIME magazine's Parents newsletter, she said: 'I remember the decision to become a parent. It wasn't hard to love. It wasn't hard to dedicate myself to someone and something greater than my life. What was hard was knowing that from now on I needed to be the one to make sure everything was OK. To manage it and make it work. From food to school to medical. Whatever would come. And to be patient.'I realized I stopped my constant daydreaming, instead staying always ready for any break into what I was doing or thinking to answer a need. It was a new skill to acquire.'
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source : Daily mail
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