8 replies to this topic

[Patrick F]

Visiting UNHCR's website, I came across this story.
After filming "Wanted" in Chicago and after a few days off in New-York, Angie has flown to Iraq were, as everybody knows, the situation is desperate : daily bomb attacks, murders, threats ... which means thousands of homeless people, refugees, IDP's ... and unfortunately killed and wounded people.
read this story from UNHCR :

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Angelina Jolie highlights humanitarian crisis during Syria and Iraq visits


DAMASCUS, Syria, August 28 (UNHCR) – UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie has visited Iraq and Syria to see first-hand the plight of hundreds of thousands of families uprooted by the conflict in Iraq.

The UN refugee agency estimates more than 4. 2 million Iraqis have left their homes – 2 million to neighbouring states and another 2.2 million displaced inside Iraq.

Here is an interesting summary of what Angie has been doing for UNHCR, just click on the pdf attachement. (source : UNHCR)

Yesterday in Damascus, Jolie visited a UNHCR registration centre and spent hours talking to Iraqi refugees in their homes. Today, she crossed into Iraq to visit 1,200 refugees trapped in a makeshift camp at the border, unable to flee Iraq, and later watched scores of Iraqis crossing into Syria at a border checkpoint.

As a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, Jolie said she would leave politics to others while focusing on the region's huge humanitarian needs.

"I have come to Syria and Iraq to help draw attention to this humanitarian crisis and to urge governments to increase their support for UNHCR and its partners," Jolie said. "My sole purpose in both countries is to highlight the humanitarian plight of those uprooted by the war in Iraq."



After talking with some of the stranded refugees at Iraq's Al Waleed camp on Tuesday, Jolie said: "it is absolutely essential that the ongoing debate about Iraq's future includes plans for addressing the enormous humanitarian consequences these people face."

While in Iraq, she separated from UNHCR to visit privately with US troops and other Multi-National Forces based in the area.

Jolie arrived in Syria on Monday. In Damascus, she met some of the thousands of Iraqi refugees registering with UNHCR, nearly one-quarter of whom are victims of violence and torture. Tens of thousands are without jobs, and many young people are in danger of losing out on an education and a future. She recognized Syria for its open borders and generosity to Iraqis.

In late July, UNHCR and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) launched a joint US$129 million education appeal aimed at getting 155,000 young Iraqi refugees throughout the Middle East back into school. The United States announced Tuesday that it will contribute US$30 million to the appeal.

Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie visited a registration centre for Iraqis, like this one in the town of Douma, during her visit to Syria. UNHCR/S.Wilkes

Here is an interesting summary of Angie's actions for UNHCR. This pdf document also comes from UNHCR's website.

Attached Files

•  goodwill_ambassador.pdf   45.3K   8 downloads

[Patrick F]

Same story from JustJared and some photos :

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Angelina Jolie Highlights Humanitarian Crisis
Tue, 28 August 2007 at 4:45 pm

UNHCR goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie listens to one elderly refugee’s story at the makeshift Al Waleed camp inside Iraq on Tuesday. This woman is just one of some 1,300 trapped unable to leave the country for neighboring Syria.

Angie has worked with UNHCR since early 2001. In May, a foundation set up by Angie and Brad Pitt, donated $1 million to help those affected by the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region and neighboring Chad.

UPDATE 1: The Huffington Post reports Angie gain flew commercial with no staff, as she did with Darfur last year. She is stealth! (Head bodyguard Mickey Brett did tag along, though.)

UPDATE 2: OK! Magazine just updated their site with Angelina posting with Lance Corporal Samuel Petersen, 22, of the US Marine Corps.

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[Patrick F]

And from OK (US)

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OK! has just obtained the first shot of Angelina Jolie visiting American troops stationed in Iraq. The Oscar-winner is there to witness a firsthand account of the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country and has flown there solo.

In this exclusive shot, Angie poses with Denver native Lance Corporal Samuel Petersen, 22, of the US Marine Corps. The photo was taken today at Camp Waleed in Iraq, near the Waleed refugee camp that Angelina visited this morning. According to Petersen's mother Sue tells OK! that the Marines at this camp are training the Iraqi police how to do border patrol.



Angelina left partner Brad Pitt and their four children, Maddox, 6, Pax, 3, Zahara, 2, and Shiloh, 15 months, back in New York City, the Goodwill Ambassador jetted to Damascus, Syria on Monday afternoon to visit a UNHCR registration center and talk to dozens of Iraqi refugees in their homes.

“I have come to Syria and Iraq to help draw attention to the humanitarian crisis and to urge governments to increase their support for UNHCR and its partners,” Angelina said in a statement. “My sole purpose in both countries is to highlight the plight of those uprooted by the war in Iraq.”

On Tuesday, the Oscar winner ventured over into Iraq to meet with American and international troops, in addition to the 1,200 refugees stationed at a makeshift outpost, as they are unable to leave the country.

For safety reasons, the 32-year-old made the trip by herself save for Mickey Brett, her head bodyguard, sources tell OK!

Angelina departed for the airport shortly after Brad and the kids’ return from their lunch date at Maddox’s favorite stomping grounds, Mars 2112. The source adds that Holly, Ange’s longtime assistant, is watching the four while the actress is overseas and Brad is at production meetings for his upcoming flick Burn After Reading.

The children were not told where their mother was going, only that she would be gone for a few days.

Photo: Sue Petersen

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[Patrick F]

Further information about Angie's visit to Iraq (UNHCR) :
Angelina Jolie hears stories of suffering, courage from Iraqi refugees

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DAMASCUS, Syria, August 29 (UNHCR) – UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie on Wednesday concluded her first visit to Iraq and Syria, where she heard tales of extraordinary resilience and courage from Iraqi refugees.

Wanting to learn first-hand about the plight of more than 4 million people uprooted by the conflict in Iraq, Jolie visited a UNHCR registration centre in Damascus on Monday and later spent hours hearing moving stories from refugees in their homes. Some had fled kidnapping and murder attempts and are now struggling to make ends meet and recover some hope for the future.

Stressing this was a non-political visit, Jolie said she wanted to draw attention to the humanitarian crisis and urged governments to increase their support for UNHCR and its partners. The UN refugee agency estimates more than 4.2 million Iraqis are now displaced – two million to neighbouring states and another 2.2 million displaced inside Iraq.

At the makeshift Al Waleed camp inside Iraq, Jolie on Tuesday walked among the tattered tents in a bleak area where there is no running water or electricity, and no respite from the blistering desert heat. She spent a lot of time with sick children and elderly refugees, and inspected a site where UNHCR is building a school for the children among the 1,300 refugees.

In Damascus she was particularly interested in the plight of Iraqi teenage boys and young men, who, unable to work or attend school, face a bleak future.

Shortly after getting off a sleepless overnight flight from New York at dawn on Monday, she visited the UNHCR registration centre where some 2,500 Iraqis are registered every week, almost one-quarter of them victims of violence and torture.

Getting a document proving their refugee status gives them access to UNHCR-subsidized medical care and food assistance. The UN refugee agency also helps Iraqi refugee children get back to school and supplies school uniforms and financial help in some cases.

Jolie sat down on the floor of a children's play area and chatted with Iraqi youngsters about their favourite toys. She was charmed to meet a young Iraqi girl called Zahara, the name of her own adopted Ethiopian daughter.

The actress sat in on a registration clerk's interview with a man and his family who fled Baghdad after the father narrowly escaped a kidnapping attempt. Now out of money, the family depends on the little cash brought in by their 17-year-old son, who irons clothes in a laundry.

Later she visited the same family in a small rented room shared by 13 people, aged between eight months and 67 years. Jolie, a mother of four, listened intently as one of the women told her that the extended family used to live in a spacious house in Baghdad. Now she can't even afford diapers for her babies.

"I can't imagine how I could manage to take care of my children in these circumstances," Jolie told the woman,

In Damascus's crowded Seida Zeinab area, where Syrians and Iraqis of all ethnicities and religions live harmoniously side by side, she slipped off her shoes and sat on the floor with a young Iraqi man who had been tortured, set on fire and left for dead in Iraq. He has been helped by UNHCR since he came to Damascus.

The man, who cannot be identified, was thrilled to see UNHCR Community Services Officer Mai Barazi, a regular visitor to refugees in the area. But he didn't recognize his more famous visitor, guessing only that she might be a fashion model.

On another home visit, Jolie pledged to find a way to help a 17-year-old boy who lost his sight when he was shot through the head in Baghdad. The boy, a top student, lamented that he has been forced to abandon his dream of becoming a computer engineer.

But Jolie encouraged him not to give up hopes of studying and achieving something. "There are a lot of people in history who have made a difference despite the fact that they are blind," she told him. Unfortunately, Jolie added later, the boy does not accept that his blindness is permanent, "So he probably didn't understand what I was telling him."

By Kitty McKinsey
in Damascus, Syria

Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie sits in as UNHCR staff interview refugees at the agency's reception centre in Damascus. © UNHCR/M.Bernard

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie talks with a refugee child in Al Waleed camp, Iraq. © UNHCR/M.Bernard


Great Angie isn't she ? She deserves all our respect !

[Patrick F]

and this : a day before (source : UNHCR as well)

Angelina Jolie highlights humanitarian crisis during Syria and Iraq visits

Quote

DAMASCUS, Syria, August 28 (UNHCR) – UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie has visited Iraq and Syria to see first-hand the plight of hundreds of thousands of families uprooted by the conflict in Iraq.

The UN refugee agency estimates more than 4. 2 million Iraqis have left their homes – 2 million to neighbouring states and another 2.2 million displaced inside Iraq.

Yesterday in Damascus, Jolie visited a UNHCR registration centre and spent hours talking to Iraqi refugees in their homes. Today, she crossed into Iraq to visit 1,200 refugees trapped in a makeshift camp at the border, unable to flee Iraq, and later watched scores of Iraqis crossing into Syria at a border checkpoint.

As a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, Jolie said she would leave politics to others while focusing on the region's huge humanitarian needs.

"I have come to Syria and Iraq to help draw attention to this humanitarian crisis and to urge governments to increase their support for UNHCR and its partners," Jolie said. "My sole purpose in both countries is to highlight the humanitarian plight of those uprooted by the war in Iraq."

After talking with some of the stranded refugees at Iraq's Al Waleed camp on Tuesday, Jolie said: "it is absolutely essential that the ongoing debate about Iraq's future includes plans for addressing the enormous humanitarian consequences these people face."

While in Iraq, she separated from UNHCR to visit privately with US troops and other Multi-National Forces based in the area.

Jolie arrived in Syria on Monday. In Damascus, she met some of the thousands of Iraqi refugees registering with UNHCR, nearly one-quarter of whom are victims of violence and torture. Tens of thousands are without jobs, and many young people are in danger of losing out on an education and a future. She recognized Syria for its open borders and generosity to Iraqis.

In late July, UNHCR and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) launched a joint US$129 million education appeal aimed at getting 155,000 young Iraqi refugees throughout the Middle East back into school. The United States announced Tuesday that it will contribute US$30 million to the appeal.

Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie talks with refugees in a children's play area at the UNHCR registration centre in Damascus. © UNHCR/M.Bernard

[Patrick F]

Here are the stories about her visit to Iraq as they can be read on ContactMusic :

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Crusading actress ANGELINA JOLIE arrived in war-torn Iraq on Tuesday (28Aug07) in her capacity as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. On Monday (27Aug07), the mother-of-four flew from New York City to Damascus, Syria, where she spent hours chatting to Iraqi refugees and visited a UNHCR (United Nations Refugee Agency) registration centre. The next day Jolie travelled to a makeshift outpost on the Syria/Iraqi border to meet 1,200 refugees, camped there because they're unable to leave the country. She says, "I have come to Syria and Iraq to help draw attention to the humanitarian crisis and to urge governments to increase their support for UNHCR and its partners. "My sole purpose in both countries is to highlight the plight of those uprooted by the war in Iraq. "It is absolutely essential that the ongoing debate about Iraq's future includes plans for addressing the enormous humanitarian consequences these people face." Jolie has also made a morale-boosting trip to meet multi-national forces and U.S. troops in the region.

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Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has visited Iraq and neighbouring Syria to meet refugees affected by the violence in the strife-torn country.

The Tomb Raider star, who is a United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) ambassador, visited a refugee registration centre in Syria on Monday.
She then flew to Iraq the next day to meet refugees housed in a camp near the border between the two countries.

During her visit, the 32-year-old actress also visited coalition troops based in the country.

In a statement Jolie said: "I have come to Syria and Iraq to help draw attention to the humanitarian crisis and to urge governments to increase their support for UNHCR and its partners.

"My sole purpose in both countries is to highlight the plight of those uprooted by the war in Iraq."

She also emphasised the need for the solution of "the enormous humanitarian consequences" faced by refugees to be raised in discussions on the country's future.

Jolie has three adopted children that she assumed care over after visiting the developing countries of Cambodia, Ethiopia and Vietnam.
She also has a child named Shiloh with partner Brad Pitt, who is currently involved in relief work in New Orleans.

[Patrick F]

You can also watch this short video !
It's provided by ITN, England's Independent Television.

[gab]

more vid's:

[Patrick F]

Thanks for the links ! Very interesting !