“The beginning of the Charter of the United Nations is ‘We, the people’. It’s the most beautiful things I’ve ever read – and that’s it, the life we spend together, all the people in the world, protecting our history, our cultures and learning from each other. “
Angelina Jolie
After making the filming of the movie “Tomb Raider” in Cambodia in 2000, Angelina Jolie contacted UNHCR to learn about UN humanitarian action directed at refugees. She soon developed field work with the agency, visiting refugee camps in Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Cambodia and Pakistan, insisting on the cost of all her missions and sharing the same rudimentary working and subsistence conditions of the UNHCR field team.
In 2006, during an interview with CNN, Jolie explained why she became involved with the cause of the refuge: “By the time I got on the plane and on the way home, (returning from Sierra Leone in 2001) I knew that I would somehow commit to doing something with these people in my life. I went to Cambodia, and I learned a lot about the situation there and the refugees there. But I got this book on the U.N., because I really liked the idea of the U.N. I know it’s not perfect. And, so, I got a book on the U.N. And I was reading about it. And then I got to this chapter on refugees. And it said almost 20 million people are displaced. And it showed pictures of Rwanda and pictures of all these, and I was kind of, and I was just shocked. I thought, how is that possible, that I have known nothing about this, and I’m 20-something years old, and there are this many people displaced in the world? So, I knew it was something that had to be discussed, and wasn’t being discussed. And, then, the more I read about it, the more I just thought, they really are the most vulnerable people in the world. They really don’t have an option for, it’s not just that they’re poor. It’s not just that they’re hungry. It’s not just that, it’s that they are in fear for their lives. They are going to be persecuted for their race, their religion, their nationality. They don’t have the protection of their own country. They’re somewhere uprooted, without any protection, with their families, relying on somebody to open their doors for someplace for them to lay their head down or get some food or something. And they may not be able to return home for decades.”
In 2001, Jolie was named UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador to publicize the plight of millions of uprooted people, request their protection and raise international aid to the cause. In an interview with CNN in 2006, Jolie stressed the importance of the United Nations for the development of humanitarian work: “We certainly hear a lot of the negative things about the UN, you hear about the negative things that have gone on. You don’t hear on a daily basis the amount of people that are kept alive or protected by the UN. And if that list was plastered everywhere, I think people would be in shock and have a little more respect. I certainly think it (UN) needs reform. It’s certainly not a perfect organization, by any means, but it’s the closest thing that we have got, you know, to a real international institution that listens to all sides, represents all sides, and can make a certain kinds of decisions. There’s just a lot that people don’t know about the UN and what it does in a positive way. And it does have its hands tied a lot. I have noticed that in countries. I have gone to countries where I have wanted to be angry about something. And you realize there’s such a fine balance, because they have to be allowed to work in these countries.”
After ten years working in this role, in October 2011 Jolie made an assessment of her performance, stating that she finally understood what it meant to be a refugee: “They are indeed the most vulnerable people in the world, they are often seen as a burden when, in fact, they should be seen as the future of their countries and people who are extraordinary survivors, very resilient, wonderful families. So when I meet them, I feel a great sense of hope for the future, and I think they should be invested in and supported. So that they have, when they return to their countries, the support to help people from other places. There is everything in a refugee camp, these people are facing all of the ailments of human society and, on top of it, they have lost their basic human rights and their home. So every part of humanity is represented in a refugee camp. So, in fact, working with them, I work with all the issues, plus the greater fact that they have no protection. ”
After years dedicated to the agency and the cause of refuge, with more than 40 field missions to some of the world’s most remote regions, in April 2012, Jolie was appointed Special Envoy to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, by António Guterres. In the new role, Jolie focuses on major crises that result in mass displacement, defends and represents UNHCR and Guterres at the diplomatic level, and engages with global decision makers on issues of global displacement. In her field missions, she continues to witness and provide relief and support to the victims of conflicts, especially vulnerable women and children, urging the international community to provide humanitarian assistance and meeting with the heads of the receiving countries to express gratitude for the open frontiers and the hospitality offered. It is also striking the way that Jolie describes refugee resistance, praising the strength, courage and willingness to live in the face of the worst adversities, especially the lack of infrastructure, education, security and the difficulty of local integration.
In addition to her numerous field missions to UNHCR, Jolie also draws attention to humanitarian issues at the political level, at meetings such as the Davos World Economic Forum and G8 (a group of self-proclaimed eight most industrialized and democratic nations in the world).
Her work has helped find and promote lasting solutions for refugees and inspired other people to know and take an active role in the cause. Jolie also contributes through massive donations to UNHCR that have surpassed $ 5 million since 2001. The funds are intended for the construction of schools in places like Kenya and Afghanistan and for other initiatives aimed at improving the lives of the displaced.
In making her efforts recognized through the 2005 Global Humanitarian Award, Jolie thanked saying, “After my first trip to a refugee camp, I made a promise that I would try to make others understand what I fortunately had the luck of testify. This award makes me feel, in some way, that I am living up to that promise. “
