Angelina Jolie Watch

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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At yesterday’s Clinton Initiative, Angelina shared a moving story of a refugee boy and the relationship he had with a man who’d been burned and tortured for religious reasons. Angelina believes that with help this young man could be a doctor.

angelina jolie, refugees, bill clinton, unhcr, education partnership of children of conflict

Today at the Clinton Global Initiative, in her role as co-chair of the Education Partnership for Children of Conflict, Angelina announced a program that will aid 1 million refugee children with education during and after conflicts.

“These are the children who most need a safe place to learn, a place to heal, a place to learn reconciliation, and a place to just be children. Some think we should only provide emergency relief to children in conflict … They say education is not life-saving. All of us here today would beg to differ.”

She feels education is the key to real change.

“Education can transform the lives of children in conflict, giving them the tools to create a better future for their families and their nations. This Partnership is putting words into action and demonstrating that even in the most difficult circumstances, every child can and should have a chance to learn.”

The Education Partnership for Children of Conflictt was founded by Jolie and [Gene]Sperling as part of a 2006 Clinton Global Initiative commitment. Housed at the Council on Foreign Relations, the Partnership helps fund new education projects for children in conflict, post-conflict, refugee and emergency situations. New projects developed through the Partnership will be announced annually at the Clinton Global Initiative.

Commitments from the Partnership include assisting 200,000 Iraqi refugee children and 300,000 children affected by the Darfur genocide.

Many more photos after the jump

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At some point this week, Angelina will have a sit down with Foreign Secretary David Miliband in New York City.

“He will meet Angelina Jolie in New York for talks,” a Miliband spokeswoman said while speaking on condition of anonymity in line with ministry policy.

Further details on the planned content of the discussion weren’t immediately available.

Rumor has it that Miliband is trying to modernize FO’s image in addition to softening England’s take on global democracy. He’s even hoping to have Angelina appear on a spiffy new FO website.

This is going to be very busy week for Angelina who’s currently staying home with the kids while Brad works. She’ll also spend some time helping raise funds for refugee education.

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Angelina Jolie is using her time in New York to join forces with the Clinton Global Initiative to help raise funds for refugee education.

UN High Commissioner for Refugee António Guterres and UNHCR’s Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie will join former US president Bill Clinton at the September 26-28 meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, issuing a call to raise $220 million for refugee education. The CGI aims to inspire commitments of help from its members.

The UNHCR programme is aimed at providing Education (Plus) – education beyond the existing schooling now offered by UNHCR – to nine million refugee children by 2010. Education (Plus) will provide resources to develop a child’s full potential, with an emphasis on girls’ participation and additional activities like life-skills training, sport programs, disease prevention and access to technology.

angelina jolie, unhcr, bill clinton, william clinton, refugees, clinton global

I have been meaning to post this letter from the UNHCR that I received last week. I know we all love Angelina the star. Let’s remember Angelina the activist.

RE: Angelina Jolie visits Iraqi refugees

Dear Friend of Refugees:

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

This week UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie concluded a 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 violence in Iraq, Jolie visited a UNHCR registration center in Damascus, Syria on Monday and then spent hours hearing moving stories from refugees in their homes.

Nearly one-quarter of Iraqi refugees 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.

Support the refugees fleeing the violence in Iraq.

The UN Refugee Agency estimates more than 4.2 million Iraqis have fled their homes – two million to neighboring countries and another 2.2 million displaced inside Iraq.

UNHCR is providing medical care and food assistance to refugee families. The agency is also striving to help Iraqi refugee children get back to school and supply school uniforms and financial help.

“I can’t imagine how I could manage to take care of my children in these circumstances,” Jolie said. You can help make a difference.

The actress met a man whose family 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. Later, Jolie visited 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.

Stressing this was a non-political visit, Jolie said she wanted to draw attention to the
humanitarian crisis and urged support for UNHCR and its partners.

Sincerely,

J. Michael Coburn
Acting Executive Director
USA for UNHCR

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Angelina has just wrapped up a visit to Iraq in her role as UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador. She took two days out of her busy schedule to bring attention to the humanitarian needs of Iraq and Syria.

The UNHCR announced the mission.

Yesterday in Damascus (Syria), Jolie visited a UNHCR registration center 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.

Angie traveled by commercial airliner with only bodyguard Mickey Brett(Big Mickey to us) accompanying her. She made a similar trip last year to embattled Darfur sans entourage.

Angelina said this about the trip.

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

She broke away from the UNHCR to visit troops from the United States and other countries. Lance Corporal Samuel Petersen, 22, of the US Marine Corps was lucky enough to get a picture with Jolie. His proud mama sent this photo to OK! Magazine.

The kids stayed home with Pappa Pitt and Jolie’s long time assistant, Holly. It’s not immediately clear when she’ll be returning to the United States. For security reasons her travel plans have been hush hush.

In times of war we often forget the innocent people that are displaced because of fighting. Thanks to Angelina and the UNHCR for reminding us. Let’s keep the refugees in our thoughts.

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Ouch! Angelina was mentioned in Pelda’s diary who is on a three week journey traveling the Darfur Region and more.

During his three weeks traveling in the region, Pelda kept a diary. By virtue of the author’s firsthand observations and his numerous conversations with local Sudanese and Chadians, foreign aid workers and Darfur rebels, Pelda’s diary provides a portrait of the Darfur conflict that is perhaps unrivaled in its detail and nuance. Over the next few weeks, publishing one diary entry each weekday, World Politics Review will present this important document for the first time in English, with an epilogue penned by Pelda exclusively for WPR.

Angie was mentioned in Day Two.

In the meanwhile, I have inquired about flights to the East. The U.N. has two small planes with which it transports personnel between N’Djamena and Abéché, as well as between Abéché and certain localities in the border region with Darfur. Unfortunately, I cannot get a seat, since the next flight is already completely booked. Among others, it will be carrying Angelina Jolie plus her full entourage. Jolie is acting as a “Goodwill Ambassador” for the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) and she wants to have a look around the camps in the East. Less generous souls in N’Djamena say that Jolie is only doing the trip because Mia Farrow was recently in Chad as “Goodwill Ambassador” for UNICEF. Just what a “Goodwill Ambassador” is — and what purpose the whole media circus around them is supposed to serve — is not entirely clear to me. Is it only possible to draw the attention of the global public to a tragedy, to mass murder such as is occurring in Darfur, when Hollywood stars are flown in for quick visits to refugee camps and then shed tears at a press conference afterwards? I have trouble believing it. But when I ask a high-ranking U.N. official, he merely replies, “That’s the way the world is. You have to be realistic.”

You can read the full diary here

Angelina has returned to Africa, for the third time, on behalf of the UN. Angelina won’t be able to actually go to Darfur itself, though she’s there to monitor the area, due to the violent, unstable conditions. According to People, she arrived on Sunday at N’Djamena Chad and is scheduled to visit refugee camps about two miles from the border of Sudan.

She will be staying there for a few days to continue to raise awareness about the continuing crisis, and also see the current conditions – which have deteriorated since her last trip in 2004.

Neilson says the nomination (submitted by a sitting member of the council) was approved, but the board will still need to give its final approval in June. Said Neilson: “Few people are more committed than she is to these issues.”

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.”

This is the final installment of the video’s originally aired on MTV showing Angelina Jolie in Sauri, Kenya with Jeffrey Sachs. These videos show what changes Angelina’s work has helped to make as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Last week I posted the first installment of the videos I found of Angelina Jolie’s coverage of her visits with refugees in Suari. These clips are from her travels with Jeffrey Sachs Millenium Project, originally airing on MTV. This is the second clip.

This is the first time I’ve come across this video. It contains footage from her trips as UN High Commissioner for Refugees. And if you are interested in learning more of Angelina’s visits with refugees, I really recommend picking up her book, Notes from My Travels: Visits with Refugees in Africa, Cambodia, Pakistan, and Ecuador
by Angelina Jolie, Caspian Tredwell-Owen

Angelina with Tham Hin Refugees

As part of her work as a UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Angelina spent Christmas day in Costa Rica with (mostly) Colombian refugee children and their families.

After arriving in San Jose, Jolie made the following statement, “The conflict in Colombia is the greatest humanitarian tragedy in the Western Hemisphere, but it receives very little international attention, my Christmas message to Colombian refugees and to the millions of displaced people in Colombia is that the world has not totally forgotten them.”

Approximately three million Colombians have been forced from out of their homes and towns during more than two decades of conflict, however a large portion remain in Colombia. In addition, approximately 500,000 have fled to other countries in the surrounding areas. According to the UNHCR, the misplaced Colombian refugees make up the largest single population of concern anywhere in the world.

UNHCR said this is Angelina’s second trip to the region.