Angelina Jolie +

Washington, D.C. (June 21, 2010) – SOS Children’s Villages, a global organization that focuses on family-based, long-term care of children, this weekend welcomed UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie to its Village in Santo, Haiti outside of Port-au-Prince. Ms. Jolie spent the night at an SOS house in the Santo Village. She visited with and brought toys for the children. On her trip she met with President Preval, current and former Government of Haiti Ministers, Haitian Judges and lawyers, U.S. State Department officials, and other NGOs regarding child protection in Haiti.

Preceding the overnight stay, Ms. Jolie held a dinner and round-table discussion that included UNHCR, SOS Children’s Villages, UNICEF, Partners in Health and PRODEV. The purpose of these meetings was to study the Haitian legal system surrounding child protection issues and explore mechanisms for strengthening the Government’s capacity to address these needs.

This is Ms. Jolie’s second visit to the SOS Haiti Village. When last there in February she met with the 33 children who were brought to the village after the Haitian government intervened to prevent their removal from Haiti. This weekend, Ms. Jolie learned that all of the children have been reunited with their families and continue to receive assistance from SOS.

During her stay Jolie commented, “That is why I like to visit and support the SOS Children’s Villages in the world because I have seen that the children are growing up in a safe and loving environment.”

In contrast to an orphanage, SOS is a family-based model of care that makes a commitment to provide each child with a loving mother, home and a future. SOS places a priority on keeping biological brothers and sisters together and raising them in their own culture. SOS has 500 villages worldwide as well as thousands of schools, vocational training centers and medical clinics.

Ms. Jolie enjoyed breakfast in the village. SOS children welcomed her with a song in Creole as she distributed toys she had brought for them. One of the children spoke on behalf of the group and told Ms. Jolie how happy they were that she had visited the village again.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have been long-time supporters of SOS. In the past, Ms. Jolie personally visited an SOS Emergency Relief Program in Chad, an SOS Children’s Village in Ethiopia and the couple also visited the SOS Village in Amman, Jordan. “Ms. Jolie’s involvement helps to raise spirits when life has become so hard for children who have lost everything. Her continued support sheds an important light on the progress and challenges all of us face in Haiti.” said SOS Children’s Villages – USA CEO, Heather Paul. “With the six month anniversary of the earthquake approaching, Jolie helps the world remember that the struggle for survival continues on the ground every day. International partners working hand-in-hand with Haitians will be there for many years to come, long after the cameras have gone away.”

SOS – Santo is currently housing nearly 500 children without biological families to care for them. Over the past few months, 160 children who were temporarily in SOS care have been reunited with their families. They are beneficiaries of the SOS Family Strengthening Program that provides food and counseling assistance to 10,000 people daily.

Ms. Jolie also toured the SOS “Global Village Shelters” at the SOS-Santo site. Made of polypropylene materials, these shelters are quickly installed. They each provide 8 children and an SOS Mother with dry, safe housing as the rainy season approaches. About 300 SOS children will be moved into the shelters as added protection against the rainy season. “Global Village Shelters” promise to set a high standard for mid-term housing in Haiti.

For more information on SOS Children’s Villages and its Haitian relief efforts, please go to　www.sos-usa.org

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Actress Angelina Jolie has quietly returned to Haiti for meetings with Haitian and U.N. officials.

The weekend visit by the “goodwill ambassador” for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was not announced to keep it low-profile.

U.N. officials confirmed the visit when asked by The Associated Press. They agreed to discuss the trip only if not quoted by name because they were asked not to share details of Jolie’s visit.

Jolie has visited Haiti several times. In February she met with orphans and other earthquake victims.

The actress has also visited Iraq, Thailand, Pakistan and other countries on behalf of the U.N. refugee agency.
:AP report

and Today is ‘ World Refugee Day ” !!!
go to WRD-live UNHCR

CNN’s Christiane Amnapour Exclusive Interview
“Angelina Jolie in Haiti ”

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, February 9 (UNHCR) – UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie arrived on Tuesday in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, where she visited earthquake survivors and met aid workers from local and international organizations.

Jolie, who said she was in Haiti to “listen and to learn,” visited medical centres, the UN mission and met with vulnerable children. On her arrival in the Haitian capital, Jolie was briefed by the United Nations Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General Edmond Mulet on the scale of the humanitarian operation to date and the challenges that remain.

She also visited a cash-for-work programme run by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in the Carrefour district of Port-au-Prince, which is enabling Haitians to earn an income as they help their country to recover. “To give people the ability to work towards their own future is so important at this time. It helps to restore their hope and respects their dignity,” said Jolie.

The programme is assisting some 40,000 people with an aim of reaching more than 400,000. She commended the participants who told her they were happy to clean up their country and then sang her a song about Haitian pride.

In the Santo area of Port-au-Prince, Jolie visited SOS Children’s Villages, a worldwide programme to raise children inside their own countries. Since the earthquake, the organization has begun providing additional care for children who have been newly orphaned or who have lost contact with their parents as a result of the catastrophe. SOS is working to reunite children with their family members and will continue to care for those without any caregivers.

Jolie applauded their work, while stressing that “new adoptions should definitely not be encouraged as an immediate response to the emergency. Haiti had many trafficking problems before the earthquake and now must keep a very close watch on the children. I would encourage as much support as possible to groups like SOS and UNICEF providing care for children in country.”

The acclaimed actress also visited a tented hospital set up and run by UNHCR partner, Médecins Sans Frontières, in the commune of Delmas, also in Port-au-Prince. “I was struck by the strength and spirit of the Haitian people. Children as young as nine months old were coping with amputations with extraordinary resilience. I even met a little 10-year-old boy who had recently had his leg amputated, who was giggling to himself about a silly book as he sat on the floor,” Jolie revealed.

“These doctors are extraordinary,” she said. “For all the patients that had to have amputations there are also a high number of limbs and lives that the doctors have managed to save.”

“It will take years to rebuild Haiti,” Jolie said, after seeing the devastation from the January 12 earthquake. “Every day, the UN, governments, NGOs and local organizations are providing more people with protection, food, water, shelter and health care, yet the needs are still enormous and the displacement could last a decade.

“Providing adequate shelter to the displaced is of paramount importance, especially as the upcoming rainy season threatens to add to the devastation. Everyone is bracing themselves for a second wave of tragedy.”

Before arriving in Haiti, Jolie spent a day in the Dominican Republic, where she visited Haitian earthquake victims in the local public hospital and in nearby shelters. “I was heartened to see the care being provided by Dominican doctors and nurses and to witness the generosity of local society, which is caring for discharged patients and their families in their recovery,” she said.

pls visit here UNHCR

Angelina Jolie has reportedly gone to the Dominican Republic to visit with hospitalized victims of the January 12 earthquake in neighboring Haiti.

The Associated Press reports that the star toured Dario Contreras Hospital in Santo Domingo. A rep for the hospital told the AP that Jolie “spoke with several children and a Haitian woman who recognized her and requested help.”

Just yesterday, Jolie was spotted in Miami with partner Brad Pitt at the Super Bowl game.

and more reported
Angelina Jolie is embarking on another field mission for The UN Refugee Agency.

UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic told the Associated Press that the star is spreading her motherly love to the devastated country of Haiti today. Due to security concerns related to the high profile star, no further details were released.

After taking in the Super Bowl in Miami with Brad Pitt and son Maddox on Sunday, Jolie traveled to the Dominican Republic to visit hospitalized Haitian earthquake victims, a rep told the AP.

Since establishing her involvement with the organization in 2001, the philanthropic actress has visited countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kenya, and Pakistan.

Angelina Jolie jetted off to the Dominican Republic Monday following her short stop in Miami where she joined Brad Pitt and eldest son Maddox to cheer on the New Orleans Saints to victory in the Super Bowl.

Jolie is visiting with Haitian children that are in the Dominican Republic to receive medical treatment following the devastating 7.0 earthquake that hit their country on January 12th, killing more than 200,000 people.

Angelina toured the pediatric wing of Dario Contreras Hospital in Santa Domingo with it’s director Hector Quezada and Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, the son of famed Peruvian writer, Mario Vargas Llosa.

Angelina, along with partner Brad Pitt, where among the first in Hollywood to offer their support to the ravaged country, donating $1million to Haiti earthquake relief efforts.