Angelina Jolie Watch

First let me apologize for the lateness of this post but I had a big charity event this weekend that helped raise money to fight domestic violence. Thank you for understanding.

On to the pics. Angelina Jolie and Maddox left the country last week for the Middle East. We have photos of them arriving at London’s Heathrow Airport and LAX this past Friday. (She wearing gray at Heathrow and black at LAX.)

Angelina visited Iraq and called attention to the plight of their internal refugees.

“I want to come back and find you in a better place and in a different situation. We hope that UNHCR and the government will support you in getting a piece of land. You need help not because you are poor, but because you are the future of Iraq,” she told a family who fled their home because of violence

“The picture in this camp is a rough one but there are also some people that were able to return home to other safer areas,” Jolie said later. “There are some changes. There are returns of displaced people, not a big number but there is progress.”

Angelina also visited soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division and Multi-National Division-Baghdad at Iraq’s Camp Liberty during her day trip.

“I visited Walter Reed [Army Medical Center] and I was inspired and reminded of all the bravery of all the men and women,” Angie said. “I’m always just honored to spend time with everyone in the military. I was allowed to come, and I’m privileged to be here.”

And Finally, the family grabbed Happy Meals on Sunday for the kids. Fun!

Well we finally know where Angelina and Maddox were headed a few days ago-well Angelina least. (There are rumors that she and Maddox will also attend a children’’s conference in Jordan and I doubt she took Maddox to Iraq.)

Angelina is visited and Iraqi refugee settlement where “20,000 Iraqis live, unable to return to their homes because of sectarian violence.”

This Angelina’s third visit to the war torn region. One she made while pregnant with twins.

Angelina visited the region because support waning for the refugees in the area.

“It is the most critical time,” Jolie told CNN. “I think this will make the difference in the future of Iraq and in the future of a country that is so crucial to our world and our security and this region in the world. It is in the hands of the government to now really step up.”

“It’s for all of us not to feel like ‘Oh, let’s move on.’ There are so many other things that are grabbing our headlines,” she added. “This region of the world, the stability of this region is important to all of us,” she said.

“There are still three million people displaced, innocent families,” Angelina said. “We have still many young men and women from our country who are fighting every day, there are men and women from all countries who have lost their lives, and this is a time to try to make some positive change.”

“The UNHCR has been doing everything it can,” she said. “It’s been building houses. It’s having funding issues. It’s only half-funded this year. It takes six months to be able to build a house.

“So they’re not going to get enough money to be able to build all the houses that they want to build, to be able to facilitate anybody that does want to come home. They’ll be able to do something, but not as much as they could if they were given all the support.”

UNHCR estimates that 1.6 million Iraqis were internally displaced by a wave of sectarian warfare that erupted in February 2006 after the bombing of a mosque in the ancient city of Samarra. Almost 300,000 have returned to their homes amid a general improvement in the security situation since mid-2008.

Since April last year, UNHCR has provided emergency shelter rehabilitation and shelter upgrade to 5,000 families. Close to 20,000 homes will be rehabilitated by the end of this year. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees remain in neighbouring countries, mainly Syria and Jordan.

You can donate to the UNHCR HERE.

Source : CNN
Source: UNHCR

Angelina wasn’t actually able to sit down with CNN’s Anderson Cooper (his plane hit some bad whether) but the two did manage to pull off a satellite interview about the refugee crisis around the world. Angelina has used this week’s activities to focus a spotlight on the international refugee crisis.

Anderson stuck mostly to topic but couldn’t resist asking if she and Brad planned on more kids. (His excuse was that everyone in the office wanted to know. Right Anderson.) Angelina smiled and said, “We love children, we want a big family, so we never - you know, never say no.”

Here’s more of Angelina’s interview:

So many kids so many birthdays:
“I do have the twins, and I just had Shi in May. We have so many kids that we just have year-round birthdays. It’s a lot of fun now ’cause the older kids are old enough to help plan the birthdays for the younger kids. So it’s one of the great pleasures of life, the birthdays.”

How she’s been effected by her meeting with a paralyzed 15-year-old refugee orphan:

“He had this really remarkable, unbreakable spirit, a spirit beyond anything I can imagine.

“He had lost everything and he was just so full of laughter and kindness. He passed away a few months after I was there. And so I always wonder about him and young people that you meet and you just think, in any other situation, if this person had been given a chance, what an extraordinary adult he would have been.”

Angelina works so hard so that refugees around the world can have food shelter and safety. Please visit the UNHCR website to find out what you can do to help.

Today Angelina Jolie, NBC reporter Ann Curry and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres attended the 2009 World Refugee Day Commemoration at the National Geographic Society in Washington D.C.

“Refugees have profoundly changed my life. They have taught me what it is to be brave … to be a mother … to have strength of character,” Angelina told the crowd referring to her 8 years as UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador.

“There are millions of desperate families, so cut off from civilization that they don’t even know [World Refugee Day] exists,” she added.

Angelina also reiterated the World Refugee Day theme “Real People, Real Needs”.

“I believe we must persuade the world that refugees must not be simply viewed as a burden,” she said. “They are the survivors. And they can bring those qualities to the service of their communities and the countries that shelter them.”

Angelina also sat down with CNN’s Anderson Cooper this evening to talk about the plight of refugees around the world. (We don’t have the video just.) In that interview, she talked about how her work with refugees effects how she raises her kids.

“I usually just explain to [my kids] that there are other families in the world that aren’t as fortunate as ours and other kids’…And so I tell them that it’s important for all of us to do what we can and then go to these places and understand what’s happening.Hopefully I’ll take them to as many countries as I can and raise them witwith an education of the world.”

“And I think by…meeting them, by making friends with these type of people and these type of children, it will make my children better people as they get older,” she added.

Coming fast on the heels of the Pitt clan’s donation to a Missouri hospital, is another large donation from the Jolie-Pitt family.  Today, the Jolie-Pitt Foundation announced a gift of $1 million to the United Nations Refugee Agency specifically to help Pakistani refugees. Angelina has been to Pakistan three times during her time as Goodwill Ambassador for the UNHCR but it was too dangerous to film there while she worked on A Mighty Heart.  Agency head António Guterrest thanked the foundation for their contribution.  He said the situation in Pakistan is “the most challenging humanitarian crisis of the past decade.” More than 2 million people have been displaced.

On Thursday, Angie will appear on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 and host a World Refugee Day reception in Washington D. C. on (Hillary Clinton will be there as well.)  Angelina will  also appear on Friday’s Today Show.

Angelina Jolie continues to bring attention the plight of refugees around the world.  This year’s PSA urges us not to ignore those that have been displaced by war, famine or environmental factors.

“Please don’t turn away. Refugees are the most vulnerable people on earth. Every day, they are fighting to survive. They deserve our respect. Please do not forget them. Remember them on this day. World Refugee Day,” Angelina says.

The theme for the year’s World Refugee day is “Real People, Real Needs”. The UNHCR asks everyone to remember refugees even in the midst of our the world financial crisis:

Of the millions of people forcibly displaced by conflict, persecution and natural disasters, every one has a story to tell; they are real people, just like you and me, and they have real needs. But, despite the best efforts of UNHCR and many others, many of these basic needs are far from being met.

A comprehensive assessment of the needs of refugees and other people cared for by the UN refugee agency revealed that 30 percent were unmet - a third of them in basic and essential services. Improvements in nutrition and water supplies, access to primary health care, strengthened child protection programmes, better protection for women from sexual violence and abuse, and improvements in living conditions and sanitation facilities are just some of the needs that are not being met worldwide.

This World Refugee Day we ask you to remember the millions of forcibly displaced and stateless people under our care who are struggling with their day-to-day lives. One thing connects them all: basic needs that must be met so they have a chance to rebuild their lives.

Check out last year’s PSA if you haven’t seen it.

Angelina Jolie will join Anderson Cooper on June 18 to commemorate World Refugee Day. World Refugee Day, created by the United Nations General Assembly in 2001, is officially celebrated on June 20th. Last year Angelina appeared in PSA to call attention to as part of World Refugee Day activities.

The UNHCR says this year’s theme will focus protection:

On June 20, we celebrate World Refugee Day. This year, events around the world focused on the fundamental need for protection. For some, this means economic security; for others, protection is freedom from violence and persecution. On World Refugee Day, we turn our attention to the millions of refugees who live without material, social and legal protection.

Since its foundation in 1951, UNHCR has protected tens of millions of refugees. For us, protection consists of tangible improvements in the lives of forcibly displaced people – from the provision of food and shelter to support for those lacking legal status or those wishing to return to their home countries. On World Refugee Day, we commemorate this vital engagement.

Protection is also about raising awareness. We cannot protect refugees if their plight remains invisible. On World Refugee Day, we highlight the universal nature of protection. Not only are refugees protected all around the globe, but the responsibility for protection is equally global.

Ultimately, protection is a challenge that knows no borders. Neither can it be left to a single agency to provide. This World Refugee Day, we launched a global call for action. We want to promote engagement at the grassroots level, in local communities, workplaces and online. Only through a global network of supporters can we meet the manifold needs of protection.

Stay tuned for more on this year’s activities.

As we the world focuses on consuming less and trying to turn the global warning tide let’s remember environmental refugees.   Angelina advocates for a variety of refugees and I thinks she’d appreciate a look a this special refugee population on Earth Day.  In fact, Brad is actually an advocate for this population as he works to build homes for Katrina survivors.

You can help fight global warming, which contributes to this crisis, by conserving, preserving and simplifying you life. Happy Earth Day!

Angelina completed her first post-twins UNHCR trip yesterday.  She visited Afghan citizens who’d returned home from neighboring countries like Pakistan.

During her trip, Ms. Jolie visited recent returnees in the eastern province of Nangarhar, where almost 20 per cent of all Afghans who return to the homeland have settled since 2002.

Refugees told Angelina that they are not able to return to their homes of origins because of poor security and lack of land. People who have are still in their home country but are not able to return to their original city and state are classified as internal refugees.

Angelina was impressed with the “the courage, resilience and quiet dignity of returnee families rebuilding their lives against the kind of adversity few of us can imagine shows the human spirit at its best.” She encouraged more international age fore resettling Afghanis.

As always,  kudos to Angelina.

I forgot to mention this but the forum was co-sponsored by Angie’s group Education Partnership for Children of Conflict. She founded the group with Gene Speerling last year as part of the 2007 Clinton Initiative. In this video from Tuesday’s conference, she’s talks about how transformative education can be to a child of conflict.

To read additional facts about children of conflict click below. I am eternally grateful to Angelina for her continued education on this subject. (more…)

The UNHCR is looking at the plight of the Internally Displaced Person and how to best deal with this unique population.

Like refugees, they are hapless civilians often caught up in an endless round of civil conflict or persecution. There are an estimated 25 million of them around the world and they are sometimes known by the clumsy bureaucratic acronym of “IDP” – an Internally Displaced Person. What is the difference? When a fleeing civilian crosses an international frontier, he or she becomes a refugee and as such receives international protection and help. If a person in similar circumstances is displaced within his or her home country and becomes internally displaced person then assistance and protection is much more problematic. UNHCR currently helps over 12.8 million of those internally displaced, and a lively international debate is underway on how to more effectively help this group.

Below is a list of Internally Displaced populations that currently receive aid from the UNHCR. Most IDPs are not under the jurisdiction of the UNHCR even though they have been driven from their homeland by war, conflict or other life threatening conditions. Essentially they are just like refugees but have not crossed into another internationally recognized country

Colombia 3,000,000
Iraq 1,834,400
Uganda 1,586,200
Sudan 1,325,200
Dem. Rep. of the Congo 1,075,300
Côte d’Ivoire 709,200
Azerbaijan 686,600
Sri Lanka 469,200
Somalia 400,000
Georgia 246,000
Serbia 227,600
Lebanon 200,000
Russian Federation 158,900
Timor-Leste 155,200
Central African Rep. 147,000
Bosnia and Herzegovina 135,500
Afghanistan 129,300
Chad 112,700
Nepal 100,000
Myanmar 58,500
Montenegro 16,200
Burundi 13,900
Croatia 4,000
Congo 3,500

When populations cross international country lines in an effort to save their lives they are generally given food, water and shelter. International law requires basic humane treatment. When people flee within their own state, the same safeguards don’t apply. The UNHCR is working hard to figure out how to best serve this population. For more information go HERE.

internally displaced persons, refugees, unhcr, angelina jolie

We know that Angelina and the UNHCR work extremely hard for refugees but I didn’t know a lot about the organization’s history or just basic information for that matter. Because I’m on a research kick, I did a little bit of research about this humanitarian organization.

Check out these facts about the UNHCR:

• The UNHCR was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly.
• The UNHCR stands for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
• The group’s mission is to protect the well being and rights of refugees.
• The UNHCR offers assistance to refugees regardless of race, nationality or religious preference.
• The United Nations defines a refugee as “A person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it..”
• The original mandate was a three year mission to help European refugees of World War 2.
• The organization relies completely on voluntary contributions from countries, corporations and individuals.
• The UNHCR seeks to repatriate refugees to their homeland if conditions warrant. If conditions are not subtable for repatriation, the UNHCR seeks to integrate or resettle refugees in other countries.
• António Guterres is the current High Commissioner. His term expires in 2009.
• Angelina is one of seven current Goodwill Ambassadors.
• Goowill Ambassadors use their celebrity to bring attention to the plight refugees.

“Refugees have done more for my heart and my spirit than I can ever express in words.” -Angelina Jolie

To donate to UNHCR go HERE. Every little bit helps.

Photo Notes: Angelina Jolie with the Indian Minister of State for External Affairs, Anand Sharma in New Delhi, November 2006.

angelina jolie, refugees, unhcr, united nations

Blog Action Day is an annual day set aside for blogger’s to talk about one issue. This year we focus on the environment.

Though Brad appears to be the environmentalist in the family I think it’s a topic Angelina would approve of because of environmental refugees.

Experts predicts that their will be 50 million environmental refugees by 2010. Environmental refugees are peoples displaced by “rising sea levels, desertification, dried up aquifers, weather-induced flooding and other serious environmental changes.”

To put it simply, changes in the environment cause millions people to flee their homes each year. Environmental refugees are most prevalent in Sub-Sahara Africa but also pose a major problem throughout Asia and India. The United States and Europe are seeing increased pressure to provide havens for environmental refugees from North and South America.

Here are some interesting facts about these unique refugees:

• Environmental refugees are not recognized by any international convention.
• The United Nations University says that the international community should define, recognize and extend support to this new category of refugee.
• The UN says that by 2050 their will be 150 million environmental refugees due to erosion, coastal flooding and agricultural disruption.
• Hurricane Katrina forced a million people from New Orleans and cities along the Mississippi and Louisiana coast to move inland. Record-high temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico’s helped make Hurricane Katrina one of the most destructive storms in the history of the United States.

You don’t have to change your entire life to make an environmental difference. Small things make a huge difference. For example:

Make sure you have a large to extra large load of laundry before you wash. When buying your next car at least consider a hybrid or one that runs on alternative fuel. Reuse paper-print on the back and front. Turn off your TV for an hour. Lots of things are common sense. Do what you can to make a change.

To learn more about environmental refugees you can refer to the following sources:

Environmental Refugees at About.com

Environmentalrefugee.com

Blog Action Day, environment, angelina jolie, environmental refugees, refugees, un univerity

I’ve been meaning to post this but those Jolie-Pitts can make one’s life so very busy. It’s really hard to keep pace with them.
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The prestigious Council on Foreign Relations has admitted our very own champion of human rights, Angelina Jolie, to its exclusive Manhattan-based foreign-policy group ranks.

Friday, the council’s membership accepted Jolie’s nomination - and Jolie now joins other club members Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell and Alan Greenspan to name a few. The Post reports the group requires “no academic credentials but looks for members who take part in world affairs.” “Bring her on,” said Dr. Gordon Adams, an international-affairs professor. “The idea of having Henry Kissinger and Angelina Jolie in the same organization is dazzling.”

The Post reports member Carol Adelman, former head of U.S. foreign-aid programs, saying, “It’s not like Paris Hilton is being nominated.”