Angelina Jolie visits Mosul: A-lister meets families in city where up to 40,000 civilians died in bloody battle with ISIS
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- Published on Sunday, 17 June 2018 16:35
- Written by Daily mail
Oscar winning actress Angelina Jolie has traded the bright lights of LA for war torn Mosul to meet with the victims of Iraq's recent bloody conflicts which have claimed the lives of thousands and displaced millions of innocent people.The Hollywood star, known for her impressive humanitarian credentials, is a United Nations special envoy and met up with starstruck youngsters and parents as part of her role.Victims of the bloody battles to retake the Iraqi city from ISIS flocked to meet the megastar who flashed her trademark megawatt smile at adoring children. In a city condemned by gunfire and shelling, the enormity of the rebuild cannot be under-estimated. 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.A senior minister in Bagdad said that many bodies 'are still buried under the rubble' and that the 'level of human suffering is immense.''Kurdish intelligence believes that over 40,000 civilians have been killed as a result of massive firepower used against them, especially by the federal police, air strikes and Isis itself,' Mr Zebari added.Nearly 8,300 homes - almost a third of the houses in the city - were destroyed or suffered major damage, according to UN Habitat. All five of Ramadi's bridges over the Euphrates River were damaged; only three are currently under repair. Three-quarters of the schools remain out of commission. But funding is far lower than what Iraq says it needs. So far, stabilization has received some $392 million in contributions. The United States has given the lion's share, some $115 million. Germany is the second biggest donor at $64 million. The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have also contributed, but no other Gulf nations are among the list of donors.Overall, Washington has contributed $265 million to reconstruction since 2014, on top of $1.7 billion in humanitarian assistance in Iraq. But it is a fraction of the $14.3 billion that the U.S. spent in fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. But Douglas Silliman, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, blamed the destruction of Iraqi cities squarely on IS fighters.'Had they not been here, had they not conducted a completely brutal and inhumane campaign against the Iraqi people, this destruction would not have happened,' he said.
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Angelina Jolie and Senator John McCain Call On Americans and the U.S. Government to Help Save the Rohingya Muslims
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- Published on Saturday, 10 March 2018 17:07
- Written by People
On International Women’s Day, Angelina Jolie and Senator John McCain are appealing to Americans to come together to defend human rights and American leadership in the world — specifically with regard to the recent increase in violence and atrocities being committed against the Rohingya Muslims.In a co-written op-ed for the New York Times, Jolie and McCain outline the human rights issue at hand and urge Americans and the U.S. government to take action.“Around the world, there is profound concern that America is giving up the mantle of global leadership,” they write. “Our steady retreat over the past decade has contributed to a wide array of complex global challenges — a dangerous erosion of the rule of law, gross human rights violations and the decline of the rules-based international order that was designed in the aftermath of two world wars to prevent conflict and deter mass atrocities.”Jolie, 42, and McCain, 81, cite a lack of diplomacy in Myanmar, formerly Burma, that has led to 680,000 Rohingya Muslims being forced to flee “a systematic military campaign of killings, arson, rape and other mass atrocities amounting to ethnic cleansing.”They add: “According to recent reports, many survivors are still not getting proper assistance because of a lack of funding for gender-based-violence programs. Addressing these shortfalls and taking steps to protect Rohingya refugee women and girls from further sexual violence should be a priority for the United States and like-minded countries. We must also take urgent steps to get medical care and assistance to Rohingya families in desperate need in Rakhine State in Myanmar.”Jolie and McCain urge the passing of the Burma Human Rights and Freedom Act, a bill sponsored by Senator McCain, which would impose sanctions on Burmese military and security forces responsible for the violence and also support efforts to properly investigate human rights violations.“While politics have left Americans deeply divided, we can all unite around the belief that a commitment to freedom, justice and human rights has distinguished the United States as a great nation,” they write. “Our failure to hold accountable those who commit mass atrocities and human rights abuses will lead to more violence and instability.”
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UN aid agency backed by Angelina Jolie is the latest to be embroiled in sex scandal as 19 allegations of abuse are made against staff
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- Published on Sunday, 04 March 2018 10:30
- Written by Daily Mail
The United Nations aid agency backed by Angelina Jolie has been hit by 19 allegations of sex abuse by staff in the past year alone, it can be revealed, with three of the alleged victims being under 18.The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which received almost £100 million from British taxpayers in 2017, said misconduct complaints had been made against workers in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.On the eve of a crisis meeting to be held by Department for International Development (DFID) chiefs, this newspaper has also discovered that:
- DFID contractor Adam Smith International has admitted it has had ‘historic cases of sexual misconduct’;
- Human-rights group Amnesty International said it had dealt with three cases of sexual harassment;
- Prince Charles’s young people’s charity, The Prince’s Trust, said three workers had been disciplined for inappropriate behaviour.
Tomorrow, International Aid Secretary Penny Mordaunt hosts a ‘safeguarding summit’ with the Charity Commission to work on solutions to the abuse crisis. She has asked charities which receive money from the UK’s £13 billion aid budget to tell her what they have done about historic abuse allegations, and has had 161 responses so far. This newspaper can reveal some of the figures that have been provided by some of the biggest names in overseas aid. UNHCR, whose ‘special envoy’ is Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, said it had one substantiated case of abuse in 2016, for which a member of staff had been dismissed. It had 19 complaints of sexual exploitation or abuse in 2017, of which six are still being assessed. One alleged victim was 17. Details of two other cases involving under-18s are unknown. Ms Jolie declined to comment but a source close to the actress said she will find the allegations ‘upsetting’ and ‘inexcusable’ and has raised the matter with the agency.
Meanwhile, Adam Smith International – which had its government work frozen after The Mail on Sunday revealed alleged ‘dirty tricks’ to win contracts – said it was still preparing its response to DFID’s request for information and a spokesman said it was conducting ‘an internal review to determine the extent and nature of historic cases of sexual misconduct and how they were managed’.The Prince’s Trust, which received £14 million in public-sector funding last year, said: ‘Three staff have been disciplined for insensitive or inappropriate behaviour in relation to young people, not constituting sexual abuse.’ One was dismissed.Amnesty International, which does not receive public funding, said it had had three alleged cases of sexual harassment in the past ten years, resulting in a volunteer being dismissed. All cases were in the UK.Another DFID contractor, VSO, said last night that staff had made eight allegations of sexual misconduct by employees in the past three years. Six led to staff having their ‘contracts terminated’. All the wrongdoing occurred overseas.
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Angelina Jolie Gives Lecture as Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science
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- Published on Thursday, 22 February 2018 18:45
- Written by US magazine
Nobody overslept and missed this class! Angelina Jolie taught a seminar on Monday, February 19, called “Women, Peace and Security” at the London School of Economics and Political Science.The 42-year-old Oscar winner, who is currently a visiting professor, spoke about human rights violations against women in conflict and their links to gender inequality. Afterwards, Jolie took questions from the class! Jolie delivered her first lecture at the prestigious London-based school in March 2017. “Im a little nervous, feeling butterflies,” she told The Evening Standard. “I hope I do well. This is very important to me.” The By the Sea actress had nothing to be worried about. After the lesson, students took to social media to praise her speech and share photos taken with their celebrity lecturer. “She’ll make an amazing visiting professor. So honored to hear her inaugural lecture at LSE on sexual violence, rape, working w/ refugees,” one student tweeted. Added another: “Incredible lecture by Angelina Jolie.” Jolie and Britain’s former foreign secretary William Hague founded the LSE Centre for Women, Peace and Security in 2015. “It is vital that we broaden the discussion on how to advance women’s rights and end impunity for chimers that disproportionately affect women, such as sexual violence in conflict,” Jolie said in a statement to The Guardian last May. “I am looking forward to teaching and to learning from the students, as well as to sharing my own experiences of working alongside governments and the United Nations.”
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Angelina Jolie visits NATO headquarters in Belgium to discuss prevention of sexual violence against women in warzones... as her tour of Europe continues
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- Published on Saturday, 03 February 2018 13:33
- Written by Daily mail
She is an acclaimed actress, humanitarian, advocate of world peace and UNHCR Special Envoy.And Angelina Jolie was seen visiting NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium to discuss ways to prevent sexual violence against women in areas of conflict on Wednesday.The Oscar-winning actress, 42, wore a caped black dress and matching heels for her meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The mother of six flashed a smile as she shook hands with Jens during the photocall before she was treated to a tour of the military base.Angelina met with Jens in her role as co-founder of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative. In December Angelina and Jens united for an op-ed in The Guardian, with the actress writing how the NATO alliance could be a role model and 'leading protector' of womens' rights, and ending gender-based violence. Jolie wrote: 'In our different roles we have seen how conflicts in which women’s bodies and rights are systematically abused last longer, cause deeper wounds and are much harder to resolve and overcome. Ending gender-based violence is therefore a vital issue of peace and security as well as of social justice.' The visit to NATO HQ was the latest stop on Angelina's tour of Europe, with the star seen meeting with France's First Lady Brigitte Macron on Tuesday.The meeting was to discuss her recent visit to Jordan and urge members of the UN Security Council to resolve the conflict in Syria.She later attended a beauty launch at the Guerlain headquarters at the end of the night.Earlier in the day, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Special Envoy was seen taking a break from her charity work as she enjoyed a day of culture in the City of Light with her six children.Angelina shares her kids with ex Brad Pitt, who she announced she was splitting from in 2016.They share Shiloh and twins Vivienne and Knoxwhile Maddox, Pax and Zahara were adopted from Cambodia, Vietnam and Ethiopia respectively. The family trip to Paris comes after Angelina took daughters Shiloh and Zahara to a Zataari refugee camp in Jordan last week.The humanitarian said that her daughters 'asked to come' with her to meet with Syrians displaced from the country's on-going civil war which began nearly seven years ago, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.She said: 'They’ve spent time today speaking and playing with children their own age who have been forced from their homes, whose family members have been killed or have disappeared.'Who are struggling with trauma and illness, but who at the end of the day are just children, with the same hopes and rights as children in any other nation.' Angelina served as a Goodwill ambassador for the UN from 2001-2012.During her time working with the organisation, she has carried out almost 60 field missions and become an advocate on refugee and displacement issues. In 2012 she was appointed Special Envoy, which sees the working mother focus on crises that result in mass population displacements as well as represent the UN.
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