UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie in Nairobi, appeals for child refugees
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- Published on Thursday, 29 June 2017 10:28
- Written by UNHCR
UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie marked World Refugee Day 2017 visiting adolescent refugee girls in Nairobi.Ms. Jolie met around 200 refugee girls, who are unaccompanied or separated from their parents and are now living in the Heshima Kenya Safe House and participating in a Girls’ Empowerment Project.The girls have fled extreme violence or persecution in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), South Sudan, Somalia, Burundi, and Rwanda. Almost all have suffered sexual and gender-based violence, robbing them of their childhoods. Many have given birth after being raped, or are pregnant. They told the Special Envoy about their personal stories and their lives today.
Angelina Jolie said:“Over half of all refugees and displaced people worldwide are women and children. How we treat them is a measure of our humanity as nations. On World Refugee day my only ask is that people consider the pain and suffering of young girls like these. Not only have they had to flee extreme violence or persecution, lost everything and witnessed the death of family members, but they have also had to face so much abuse and intolerance and hardship. They are doing their best to carry on, with minimal support trying to live lives on dignity against impossible odds. It was an honour to spend the day with them.”
It was Angelina Jolie’s third visit to Kenya, home to nearly 491,000 refugees from neighbouring Somalia, South Sudan, DRC, Burundi and other countries in the region. Most of the 67,000 urban refugees in Kenya struggle to survive on handouts from UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations, and many are struggling to recover from horrifying abuse and terror endured before or during their flight.Among the refugees in Kenya are 101,713 from South Sudan, which has now become the biggest new factor in global forced displacement after the disastrous break-up of peace efforts in July 2016 contributed to an outflow of 737,400 people by the end of the year.The Special Envoy said: “Kenya hosts close to half a million refugees and we at UNHCR are very grateful to the people and government of Kenya for that.”In all, Heshima Kenya’s Girls’ Empowerment Project helps some 200 refugee girls, including those in the Safe House. They are provided with education, and training in a variety of skills to enable them to become self-reliant.Benedict, who oversees the Heshima Kenya programme, described his motivation in helping the refugees: “When I see them, I don’t see refugees, I see human beings who are suffering not out of choice but because of circumstances beyond their control.”With the option of resettlement scarce, Heshima Kenya focuses on helping the refugees to fully integrate within the Kenyan community. This approach is also being championed by UNHCR and its partners in international talks that aim to forge a new Global Compact on Refugees next year.“When you empower them, you bring them dignity,” Benedict said. “They don’t need to rely on anyone. The Kenyan government can also start to appreciate them – as taxpayers, employers and consumers with purchasing power.”
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Angelina Jolie tells starstruck schoolchildren to 'fight for universal human rights'... as they lend support to Grenfell Tower survivors
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- Published on Wednesday, 28 June 2017 04:30
- Written by Daily mail
She acts as UNHCR Special Envoy and harnesses her global fame in Hollywood to help child refugees in war torn countries of the world.And actress and philanthropist Angelina Jolie, 42, has spoken up at a performance by more than 600 children as part of a project between world human rights organisation Amnesty International and Chickenshed Theatre.Held at the Royal Albert Hall on Monday night, the event saw the beauty urge schoolchildren to fight for universal human rights for children all over the world.Angelin shared her message via a video clip which was played out to the audience.'Children, I need you,' she said. 'We all need you. We adults, we are a little lost these days, we want you to think that we have it all under control, that it will all be fine. And it will be,' she began.'The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; it’s like your secret book of laws. And if you can master it, no one can trick you, or your friends. And you can take those laws and rights and go head on with those adults who won’t listen.'With the power of not only what is right and fair, but what is law, you can fight back. And as you grow up, you will have the tools to protect yourselves and to defend others.'It means you can grow up to be citizens who together can complete the work that my generation will leave unfinished and fight for universal human rights for all children.'Angelina is famed for her humanitarian work; she first witnessed the effects of a humanitarian crisis when she was in Cambodia filming the 2001 film Tomb Raider.She has since visited war-torn countries all over the world, such as Sudan's Darfur region and Syria, with the aim of bringing awareness of humanitarian plight to public knowledge.The Tomb Raider star has adopted three of her six children; Maddox, Zahara and Pax were adopted from orphanages in Cambodia, Ethiopia and Vietnam respectively.The children's performance at the Royal Albert Hall was based on Amnesty’s children’s book Dreams Of Freedom, which celebrates the words of human rights heroes such as Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama and Malala Yousafzai.During the performance, children shared their own messages of freedom and solidarity starting with 'I stand with…'. ollowing the recent tragedy at Grenfell Tower, many of the children changed their line to 'I stand with Grenfell' in support of all those affected. Chickenshed is a charity that makes inspirational theatre by bringing together people from all backgrounds to produce performances that entertains, inspires, and informs both audiences and participants.The children taking part in the performance are from London schools in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, Westminster, Wandsworth and Enfield. Additional schools and children’s groups have also been involved in the creation of the performance over a period of two years.Amnesty International is the world’s largest human rights organisation with more than seven million supporters worldwide.
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Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's Secret New Talks Put Divorce on Hold
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- Published on Wednesday, 28 June 2017 04:26
- Written by Life & Style mag
With the help of a mediator, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were close to finalizing their divorce.However, Brad, 53, has been engaged in secret talks with Angelina, 42, and sources reveal exclusively to Life & Style that the private discussions, centered on where to raise their six kids, are putting the divorce settlement on hold."Angie is absolutely miserable being based in LA,” says an insider. “She doesn’t think raising them there is good for the kids. She prides herself on exposing them to different cultures and traveling around the world.” However, keeping their kids Maddox, 15, Pax, 13, Zahara, 12, Shiloh, 11, and eight-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne in LA has always been a priority for Brad.“He wanted his children to be based in one home instead of living all around the world like nomads,” explains the insider. Meanwhile, Angie is fighting to continue traveling with her brood. "Angie likes to venture around the world, seeing how other people live,” a source explains of the Oscar-winning actress. "It makes her appreciate how privileged and blessed she is." This past Father's Day, Brad was able to celebrate with his offspring on Saturday, spending time with them at his LA home before they jetted off to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where Angelina adopted Zahara more than 10 years ago."Many people find themselves in these situations ... my focus is my children, our children, and my focus is finding this way through," she told the BBC in a rare sit-down interview. "As we said, we are and forever will be a family. That is how I'm coping. I'm coping with finding a way through that somehow this makes us stronger and closer."
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Angelina’s Feud With Charlize EXPLODES Over ‘Bride of Frankenstein’ Role
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- Published on Friday, 23 June 2017 11:26
- Written by Radar Online
The 'hate fest' between Jolie & Theron 'just won't stop,' says a source.Angelina Jolie is stalling on committing to a Bride of Frankenstein remake, and RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned the delay may be a ploy to purposely annoy her rival, Charlize Theron.Last month, Universal Pictures introduced its “Dark Universe,” a Marvel-type of movie crossover family, starting with Tom Cruise’s The Mummy reboot, and scheduled to include some of history’s most famous horror monsters, including The Invisible Man, starring Johnny Depp, Dr. Jekyll, with Russell Crowe, and Frankenstein’s Monster with Javier Bardem.Jolie, 42, is being courted for the Bride of Frankenstein, with Theron, 41, tapped as the runner-up. But Radar has learned Jolie is stringing Theron along, refusing to commit to the project, and denying the Mad Max: Fury Road star the opportunity to accept other roles, as she awaits a decision.“Angie hasn’t made a deal with Universal to do their next monster flick, but the offer’s still on the table. She could use the $20m paycheck,” an insider told Radar. “She seems to enjoy sticking it to Charlize, who wanted to do this film and is convinced Angie stepped in to take it off her.”The two A-listers, who often play powerful women in film roles, have been on a Hollywood turf war for years. Their beef only increased when Theron was considered for a part in the remake of Murder on the Orient Express. A part that Jolie initially turned down.“The hate fest between these two started a long time ago and just won’t stop,” the insider said. “It’s as though directors are getting a buzz out of playing them against each other, by dangling a script to both of them then leaving them to bitch and slug it out.” Theron is no stranger to Hollywood feuds. In July 2014, former child actress Tia Mowry called her out for allegedly being mean to her when she bumped into the Oscar winner at a Los Angeles SoulCycle spin class.Mowry told In Touch: “I said, ‘Hi’ and she actually rolled her eyes and said, ‘Oh my God.'”
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Envoy Angelina Jolie urges better treatment of refugees
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- Published on Wednesday, 21 June 2017 04:07
- Written by Star Tribune
Actress and U.N. refugee agency special envoy Angelina Jolie on Tuesday denounced the impunity with which rape is committed in conflict zones and the mistreatment of vulnerable women and children.Jolie spoke in Kenya to mark World Refugee Day. She visited a training center on how to prevent sexual violence in conflict and met with refugees from conflicts in Burundi, South Sudan, Somalia and Congo."The reality is that women and girls as well as boys and men can still be raped with near-total impunity in conflict zones around the world, and there are still appalling cases of rape and mistreatment of vulnerable women, children and men by peacekeepers sent to protect them," she said.Jolie added: "The horror of sexual violence is compounded when it is carried out by someone in uniform who has a taken an oath to protect."The way people treat refugees, the majority of who are women and children, is a measure of humanity, she said, according to a statement by the U.N. refugee agency."Not only have they had to flee extreme violence or persecution, lost everything and witnessed the death of family members, but they have also had to face so much abuse and intolerance and hardship. They are doing their best to carry on with minimal support, trying to live lives of dignity against impossible odds," Jolie said.Kenya is home to nearly 491,000 refugees from conflicts in neighboring countries. A Kenyan court recently stopped the government from closing what had been the world's largest refugee camp, Dadaab, and sending more than 200,000 people back to Somalia. The court said the government had not proved Somalia is safe for refugees to return.
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