World-famous actress Angelina Jolie donated $100,000 to aid Syrian refugees on Wednesday, according to United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). Jolie, a special envoy of the commission, announced her donation on World Refugee Day, observed annually on June 20 to raise awareness for refugee crises around the world. "The international community should rededicate itself to preventing conflict, addressing it when it erupts, and solving it more quickly, for that is the only way to create durable solutions for the refugees whose strength inspires us on this World Refugee Day," Jolie said in a video clip made specially for the UNHCR. In her new role, she is expected to focus on large-scale crises resulting in the mass displacement of people, to undertake advocacy and represent UNHCR and [UN High Commissioner for Refugees ] Guterres at the diplomatic level, engaging with relevant interlocutors on global displacement issues, U.N. spokesman Adrian Edwards told journalists in Geneva in April.
(Credit: UNHCR)
Jolie has been a UNHCR goodwill ambassador since her appointment in 2001. Goodwill ambassadors are celebrity representatives of the UNHRC who use their talent and fame to advocate for refugees. In April of this year, Jolie was promoted to the role as special envoy, after a decade of work around the world on behalf of refugees.
