Angelina Jolie Made the Case for Refugee Education in a Powerful Op-Ed
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- Published on Saturday, 01 September 2018 17:37
- Written by Teen Vogue
She said it's "how you rebuild a country."
Actress and activist Angelina Jolie penned a powerful essay published by CNN on the Syrian refugee crisis, which she called “a major challenge for our generation.”But, she argued, finding a solution to the crisis is not hopeless. She says education is the key to rebuilding war-torn countries and building up refugees to their fullest potential.“We often talk about refugees as a single mass of people, a burden,” Jolie wrote, saying we do not see refugees as individuals with goals and potential. But she said many young refugees aspire to work and study hard, contribute to society, and eventually help their homelands. “[Education], in the end, I thought, is how you rebuild a country: not with peace agreements and resolutions, as necessary as those are, but with millions of school report cards, exams passed, qualifications obtained, jobs acquired, and young lives turned to good purpose rather than spent languishing in camps,” Jolie wrote.Syria has been ravaged by civil war since March 2011. According to the UNHCR, the U.N. Refugee Agency, over 10 million Syrian people have been displaced during the war’s seven years — like Hussin, who fled with her family to Jordan when she was only 12 years old.Jolie said meeting two young Syrian refugee women with “contrasting lives” helped her to come to this conclusion.One, she said, put aside her dream of becoming a doctor in order to help raise her siblings when her mother was killed in an airstrike and her father was separated from his children. At 14, the woman married and became a mother. The Freedom Fund has found that many young refugee women have been forced into childhood marriage in order to avoid extreme poverty.“Even if the war ended tomorrow, she has been robbed of her childhood and the future she might have had,” Jolie wrote.
The other young refugee fled from Syria to Iraq alongside her family when she was 16. She enrolled in an Iraqi school, and is now studying at an Iraqi university to become a dentist. Jolie wrote that the woman told her she hopes to eventually return to Syria to help her homeland.With global conflicts outlasting entire childhoods, Jolie wrote that countries are “losing out on an entire generation of education and skills amongst its young people” — something she called a “tragedy.”“Conversely, investing in the education of refugees is the most powerful way we can help them to be self-sufficient, and contribute to the future stability of countries torn apart by conflict,” she wrote.Jolie, of course, is not the only one fiercely advocating to educate young refugee women. Perhaps most famously, Malala Yousafzai won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for her advocacy for young Pakistani women’s education — even after being shot in the head for her work. And in Syria, refugee Muzoon Almellehan is referred to as “the Malala of Syria” for her refugee education advocacy.“We need education, because Syria needs us,” the then 18-year-old Muzoon said at the United Nations in 2016.Jolie concluded her essay by calling for curriculums to be established for refugee children in primary and secondary school so they are more prepared to pursue college. She also called for wealthier nations to “address humanitarian funding shortfalls so refugee parents don't have to choose between food and schooling for their children.”
You can read Jolie’s full essay here.
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Angelina Jolie in awe of Syrian refugees who are living in Iraq – ‘Home feels so warm and full of love’
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- Published on Wednesday, 18 July 2018 05:50
- Written by TVNZ
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Special Envoy, Angelina Jolie, returned to northern Iraq last month to meet with refugees who fled Syrian and are now living in Iraq.She met with Ronia, a Kurdish widow whose children have special medical needs, and is among many mothers struggling to care for the families."If I were living with nothing, just eating bread and onions, but they were not sick, then I would be fine. But this illness has taken a huge toll on us," Ronia explained.Ronia is raising five young girls all on her own. Two of her daughters have thalassaemia, a genetic blood disorder that stunts their growth and can be fatal."My husband suffered from thalassaemia… He died as there was no treatment here," Ronia said.Ronia's family fled Syria nearly six years ago.She takes her two daughters Roshda and Leila to hospital every other week for blood transfusions but says they can't get all of the medical treatment they need in Iraq."I am afraid I will lose them like I lost their dad," Ronia said.Jolie gave the single mother credit."Somehow she's managed to have a home that feels so warm and full of love and her children smiling through all of this. It is such a credit to her," Jolie said.The visit marked Jolie's 61st mission - her fifth visit to Iraq - with the UN Refugee Agency since 2001.
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Angelina Jolie Reflects on 23rd Anniversary of Bosnian Genocide: 'Time Cannot Diminish the Pain'
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- Published on Thursday, 12 July 2018 05:45
- Written by People
Angelina Jolie is remembering the victims of the Bosnian genocide in 1995 that killed over 8,000 Muslim men and boys.The actress, who centered her 2011 directorial debut In the Land of Blood and Honey around the Bosnian war that led to genocide, commemorated the 23rd anniversary with a powerful statement about the hardships the European country and its citizens still face today.“The passage of time cannot diminish the pain felt by survivors of the war in Bosnia or the horror of the Srebrenica genocide,” Jolie said in a statement. “I have never met more brave, dignified and resilient women than the Mothers of Srebrenica, many still searching for their lost sons and husbands 23 years after the genocide. My thoughts and my heart are with them, and with all survivors in Bosnia today.” She continues, “Srebrenica stands as an indelible warning of the consequences when we fail to take sides when innocent civilians are threatened with aggression. It is also a reminder that the international community can act together, as NATO eventually did in Bosnia, to end the conflict and protect civilian life.”
Jolie serves as Special Envoy to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and uses her role to work in support of refugees around the world. In her statement, the activist hopes the anniversary reminds nations around the world to take steps in preventing another genocide as millions of refugees are displaced.“On this the 23rd anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica, I hope we will be inspired to renew our sense of responsibility towards others, and our confidence in our ability to act collectively to prevent genocide and war crimes and defend international law,” Jolie said. “It is in our hands, and would be the best way of honoring the memory of those who died in Srebrenica.”Jolie made similar statements at a press conference in Bosnia in February 2012 when she returned to the country to screen her film. The director discussed her film and the long controversial history it has in the Balkan country, saying she hoped the film would serve as a “wake-up call for the international community.”“I’m satisfied with what we made, I feel very strongly about it and I believe that its core issue – which is the need for intervention and need for the world to care about atrocities when they are happening – is very, very timely and especially with things that are happening in Syria today,” Jolie told journalists from the Associated Foreign Press in 2012.
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Angelina Jolie criticises Donald Trump's 'zero-tolerance' immigration policy, urges support for refugees
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- Published on Monday, 25 June 2018 10:42
- Written by First post
Actor-activist Angelina Jolie has urged the world community to unite to fight against the global refugee crisis that has rendered millions of people homeless and vulnerable.The 43-year-old actor, who serves as Special Envoy to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in a special essay for The Economist, wrote that the humanitarian support for refugees is chronically underfunded."The number of refugees worldwide has climbed for six consecutive years. Some 68 million people are now displaced by violence and persecution-equal to a fifth of the population of America, nearly half that of Russia, and more than the entire population of the United Kingdom," Jolie wrote on the World Refugee Day on Wednesday.The "Maleficent" star condemned nations fighting back against helping the millions of refugees around the world amid the criticism of US President Donald Trump's new "zero-tolerance policy" against illegal immigrants that has resulted in the separation of over 2,500 children from their parents at the US border to Mexico, since its implementation in April.Trump rolled back the policy on Wednesday after major backlash from around the world.Jolie said there was a need for people and nations to work together to prevent and resolve conflicts."It is not surprising that there is deep public concern, not because people are heartless, but because this is not a sustainable situation. But the answer is not countries adopting harsh unilateral measures that target refugees, and run counter to our values and our responsibilities. That will only inflame the problem,"said Jolie.She further added,"Instead, we must find ways to lower the number of displaced people worldwide, by preventing and solving the conflicts that drive them from their homes. We must try to rally people and nations to act together based on common interests and universal aspirations for security, dignity and equality: understanding that this does not come at the expense of our safety and economic well-being at home, but is an essential requirement when facing problems of international dimensions."The actor-director said refugees are at their most vulnerable and they deserve protection."We live in divisive times. But history also shows our ability to unite, overcome a global crisis, and renew our sense of purpose and community with other nations. That is the greatest strength of an open society. We should not leave the debate to those who would exploit public anxiety for political advantage. We are being tested today and our response will be the measure of our humanity." "A refugee is a man, woman or child at their most vulnerable: forced from their home, living without the protection of their state, and in many cases without the bare means of survival. It is the human condition that tests our belief that all human beings have equal rights and deserve protection," she wrote.
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Angelina Jolie visits children and families in Iraqi camp for 33,000 refugees fleeing war in Syria
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- Published on Sunday, 17 June 2018 16:38
- Written by Daily mail
A day after walking bombed out streets of war-torn Mosul, Angelina Jolie toured a refugee camp holding 33,000 refugees as a result of seven-year conflict in Syria.The Hollywood star called the scene of destruction in Iraq as 'the worst' she's ever seen during her 17-year humanitarian work with United Nations.'This is the worst devastation I have seen in all my years working with UNHCR. People here have lost everything,' Jolie said in a statement.She also highlighted a lack of medical aid for inhabitants of the Domiz camp, a site she has visited three times in the past six years.
'They are destitute. They have no medicine for their children, and many have no running water or basic services.' 'I hope there will be a continued commitment to rebuilding and stabilising the whole of the city,' she said.'I call on the international community not to forget Mosul.' The actress spent the morning visiting families in the Domiz, a UN official said.Her statement comes a day after she was greeted by fans in parts of Mosul where many of the buildings had been reduced to rubble.Normality has returned to parts of the northern Iraqi city as it rebuilds, but getting displaced residents back home has been slow. Islamic Satte militants had occupied Mosul for three years and turned it into a stronghold of a 'caliphate' in a campaign that saw 900,000 residents flee.Two years after it was retaken from ISIS, more than 70 per cent of the city remains damaged or destroyed, according to the provincial council.In 2017, a Kurdish intelligence chief told the Independent that some 40,000 lives had been claimed in a devastating battle to retake Mosul from ISIS.Residents of the besieged city were killed by Iraqi ground forces attempting to force out militants - while airstrikes razed buildings with hundreds of souls inside according to Kurdish intelligence services. Jolie has worked for UN High Commissioner for Refugees since 2001, visiting uprooted civilians from Iraq to Cambodia and Kenya. This is her fifth visit to Iraq.
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source : Daily mail 
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