Angelina Jolie spent today at a refugee camp close to the Libyan border in Tunisia, meeting with displaced peoples and talking to officials as part of her work with the UNHCR. Her humanitarian work was the center of attention, as she revealed large contributions made by her Jolie-Pitt Foundation to help with the area’s suffering, but her bare arms created a serious stir. Angelina debuted a mysterious 7th line added to her tattoo, which has the coordinates of the birthplaces of her six children, causing many fans to think that she and Brad may have made another addition to their family. Rumors about the ink also included it being the location of Brad’s birthplace as a sign of their commitment, and apparently a source says not to read too much into it. The Jolie-Pitts have yet to comment about whether they have adopted again or if there is another meaning, but whatever the reason for her additional marking, it must be something close to her heart to be added to Shiloh, Zahara, Pax, Maddox, Knox, and Vivien’s special spots.
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Attorney Returns Home to Help Strengthen Judicial System
Washington, D.C. (January 12, 2011): SOS Children’s Villages, a global organization dedicated to providing family-based services for children without parental care, today announced that Nathalie Nozile, an alumna of the SOS Children’s Villages in Santo, Haiti, has been selected as the first Jolie Legal Fellow. Ms. Nozile was selected after graduating from the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law this past spring.
The Jolie Legal Fellowship, created and funded by the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, supports the Government of Haiti’s ongoing efforts to strengthen the Haitian judicial system in the challenging post-earthquake environment. Jolie Legal Fellows are attorneys who will concentrate on the protection of Haiti’s most vulnerable children in the judicial system, by serving as special assistants to key Government of Haiti officials. Ms. Nozile leaves for Haiti later this month to begin her work.
“I am thrilled that Nathalie Nozile will be our first legal fellow in Haiti – where the need to enhance child protection is so great,” said Angelina Jolie. “Nathalie has a heartfelt commitment to improve conditions in her homeland, and brings to her work the unique perspective of growing up in an SOS Village. There, she learned firsthand the importance to a childhood of a stable and nurturing environment. Now, as a promising attorney, she will draw on her personal experience as she returns to help strengthen the Haitian judicial system. Nathalie will be working to help ensure equal access to justice and the protection of children’s rights in Haiti.”
Dr. Heather Paul, CEO of SOS Children’s Villages – USA, added: “The Jolie-Pitt Foundation has been a long time supporter of SOS Children’s Villages worldwide. Nathalie is an excellent example of SOS youths who are educated and imbued with a sense of responsibility to give back to their community and their country. We are so proud that a former SOS child will work within the Haitian judicial system with an eye to protecting those who are most vulnerable. Nathalie’s devotion to her country and demonstrated willingness to support its justice system echoes Ms. Jolie’s long-term commitment to ensuring legal equality and protecting the rights of children in Haiti and across the globe.”
Ms. Nozile, who made it a priority to volunteer in Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake in the SOS Office of Emergency Programs, expressed her gratitude for this opportunity: “It is a great privilege and honor to become the first Jolie Legal Fellow. I made a decision to obtain a law degree long ago so that I could return to Haiti to serve my country, now in such a critical state. I hope my commitment will inspire more young professionals to return to Haiti, because Haiti needs us all.”
Ms. Jolie concluded: “Nathalie is a force … just wait and see. She will be doing many great things. She represents the best of Haiti. She is an extraordinary example. I am proud to know her and extremely grateful to have the opportunity to work with her.”
SOS Children’s Villages has had a presence in Haiti for over 30 years. In its Children’s Villages in Santo and Cap Haitien, SOS is raising nearly 700 children who would otherwise be without parental care. Its Santo school, located near Port-au-Prince, now educates over 900 children who attend classes in two shifts. SOS is also providing emergency food supplies to 14,000 Haitians daily and will begin construction of a third Haitian Children’s Village in Les Cayes later in 2011.
SOS Children’s Villages
Angelina Jolie Joins Fight for Cambodian AIDS Victims
The Maddox Chivan Children’s Center Provides Relief to Children Impacted by HIV
Two superstars — one a world-famous actress and one a world-renowned scientist — have teamed up to bring aid to vulnerable children around the world.
Oscar winner Angelina Jolie and Harvard researcher Dr. Anne Goldfeld, who co-directs the Global Health Committee, turned a chance meeting into an opportunity to help Cambodian children stricken with HIV and tuberculosis live full, healthy lives.
The two women met while flying into Cambodia in 2004, where Jolie was filming the hit “Tomb Raider” sequel and Goldfeld was returning to provide medical aid to children in need. The conversation the two struck up led to Jolie lending her support and funding for a center to bolster Goldfeld’s efforts.
“There, sitting next to me, was Angelina Jolie and Maddox, her son,” Goldfeld said of that fateful flight. “I think I was so jet-lagged that I had the temerity to say, ‘You’re Angelina Jolie, aren’t you?’”
Once they arrived in Cambodia, Goldfeld ended up taking Jolie to the dilapidated hospital where she was treating adults and children wasting away from diseases like AIDS and its common co-infection, tuberculosis.
Goldfeld, a professor at Harvard’s Immune Disease Institute, also told Jolie that children with AIDS in Cambodia often don’t get the care they need to survive, and are often stigmatized and cast out.
This story is part of ABC News’ “Be the Change: Save a Life” initiative, a year-long series of broadcast and digital coverage focusing on global health issues. For more onTB in Cambodia, watch “World News” Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET. Click here for complete coverage and information on how you can personally make a difference.
According to current estimates, approximately 14,000 Cambodian children are infected with HIV, and mother-to-child transmission of AIDS is one of the major causes of new infections.
After her visit to the hospital, Jolie decided to partner with Goldfeld on a new project to bring relief to Cambodian children. The result is The Maddox Chivan Children’s Center, named for Jolie’s Cambodian-born adopted son. The daycare facility for children afflicted by and affected by HIV opened in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh in February 2006.
60th Anniversary: Angelina Jolie marks milestone with tribute to the displaced and UNHCR staff
MADRID, Spain, December 17 (UNHCR) – UNHCR Goodwill Ambassadors Angelina Jolie and Jesús Vázquez met in Spain this week and paid tribute to the staff of the refugee agency on its 60th birthday and to the people they help.
“In the week of UNHCR’s anniversary, I would like to highlight the strength and courage of the world’s refugees and [other] forcibly displaced people who are, for all of us, an example of generosity and dignity,” Jolie said during a visit Thursday to UNHCR’s Madrid office. “My thoughts go also to the dedicated UNHCR staff, who for many years have risked their lives to protect the lives of refugees.”
Award-winning actress Jolie was in Madrid to promote her latest film, “The Tourist,” and took the opportunity to meet UNHCR staff and discuss Spain’s asylum system, mixed migration flows into the country, resettlement and other important issues. She also heard about plans for the anniversary year.
Jolie met Vázquez, a popular TV presenter in Spain, and shared with him some of her experiences as a goodwill ambassador over the past decade. Since becoming a goodwill ambassador in 2006, Vázquez has been actively supporting awareness and fund-raising activities in Spain on behalf of refugees, including a charity art auction on Wednesday in Madrid.
UNHCR turned 60 on Tuesday. It was founded on December 14, 1950 to help Europeans displaced during World War II and was only expected to be in existence for three years. Today, it works around the world, helps millions of people and has an open-ended mandate.
Angelina Jolie in Pakistan to highlight needs of flood victims
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, September 7 (UNHCR) – UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie has been in Pakistan today, highlighting the suffering of millions of flood victims and the need for continuing aid for the displaced.
Jolie is travelling as the personal envoy of UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres. On Tuesday she visited Mohib Banda village in northwest Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region and areas near Peshawar, including the Azakhel Afghan refugee settlement and the Jalozai camp for internally displaced people (IDP).
“It’s clear this crisis is far from over,” she said. “People have lost everything: their homes, their belongings, their crops and cattle, and their livelihoods. Long after the cameras have gone, people will be struggling to rebuild their lives.”
Jolie’s visit is her fourth to Pakistan since becoming a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador in 2001. She last visited in November 2005 following the devastating earthquake in northern Pakistan.
On Tuesday, she met people who had been directly affected by the floods, including in Mohib Banda, where some 70 per cent of the homes were destroyed or badly damaged by the swirling waters.
“We will never be able to afford the things we once had, never again,” an elderly man, Rehman Gul, told Jolie, as he pointed towards an old plastic fan amid the ruins of his former home. “Since the flooding, flies and mosquitoes are everywhere… all over the children, all over us, everything.”
When asked by Jolie to speak of her situation, Gul’s wife Zainul said: “How can I burden you with all the things we need. I feel embarrassed.” Jolie walked through the village, meeting with families and witnessing at first hand the loss and bewilderment.
“There was a small stream outside the broken homes. It was full of a mix of faeces, flies, old shoes and old clothes that had been recently washed into the water,” Jolie said.
The floods that first hit Pakistan in July have affected millions. “We must not forget flooding is not the only trauma plaguing this country,” she said.
“They are still rebuilding infrastructure from the earthquake of 2005. They continue to have large numbers of IDPs as a result of the conflict in the north, and host 1.7 million Afghan refugees who still need care and refuge as conflict continues in their homeland. And now, of course, the recent flooding and its aftermath already affecting millions and the looming threat of disease,” Jolie continued.
“One problem does not negate the other, one headline should not pull focus from the many complexities of the situation in Pakistan,” said the Goodwill Ambassador, stressing the need for continuing efforts to support those in need.
“Over the last three decades, Pakistan has been very generous in hosting what continues to be the largest refugee population in the world. It is now the Pakistani people themselves who are in need of large-scale assistance,” Jolie concluded.
UNHCR has delivered help to almost 750,000 people, but continued flooding in many areas of southern Pakistan is creating new challenges for relief efforts in what has already become one of the most complex humanitarian crises of recent times.
Angelina Jolie left Brad Pitt and the kids in Los Angeles and has gone to Pakistan on another humanitarian mission. RadarOnline.com has pictures of the actress as she was changing planed in London.
In her role as Goodwill Ambassador for the UN High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR), Jolie has recorded a video appeal for the residents of that flooded nation, calling it an “economic and social catastrophe.”
Twenty million Pakistanis are living under “the threat of disease,” she says, in asking everyone to help
