She is one of the most renowned faces in Hollywood, but there is more to Angelina Jolie than just her good looks and superb acting skills. Every now and then, we hear about her commendable philanthropic work. Not only did she break stereotypes by adopting three kids, but she has been actively working with 27 organizations around the globe.
jezebel.com
While a lot has been said and written about her Hollywood projects, we decided to dig deeper into the history of her charitable work and find out how she is making use of her celebrity status to make the world a better place.?
Recently, Angelina Jolie posed for a striking portrait for National Geographic to draw attention to the urgent need to protect bees on the occasion of World Bee Day. This was also a move to bring to light the UNESCO-Guerlain program that trains women as beekeeper-entrepreneurs and protectors of native bee habitats around the world.
To shoot for the magazine cover she sat peacefully with bees on her for 18 long minutes.
According to National Geographic, Jolie was recently named ¡°godmother¡± for Women for Bees, a five-year program launched by UNESCO. The initiative aims at building 2,500 beehives and restock 125 million bees by 2025 while training and supporting 50 women beekeepers. Talking about the initiative, the 45-year-old actor said, ¡°With so much we are worried about around the world, this (bee conservation) is one issue that we can manage. We can certainly all step in and do our part.¡±
It's time to start from the very beginning, i.e., from the year 2001, when it all started. Check it out.
azureazure.com
UNHCR stands for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It is a United Nations organisation aimed at helping refugees around the world. This is the organisation that Angelina invests the largest amount of her time in.
Her tryst with UNHCR goes way back in 2001. She linked up with this particular organisation after filming?Lara Croft: Tomb Raider?in Cambodia. Ever since, she has travelled to more than 30 countries as a goodwill ambassador over the last 15 years, to help the refugees and displaced people.
Her UNHCR missions allowed her to help people from all walks of life. In a quest to help the refugees, she has visited many war-stricken countries like Syria, Iraq and others like Sierra Leone, Jordan, Thailand, Haiti, Kenya, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Jordan, Egypt, Costa Rica, Chad.
hello
In the year 2003, Jolie received ?the first-ever Citizen of the World Award from the United Nations Correspondents Association for her contributions to helping refugees.
She then went on to receive Global Humanitarian Award from the United Nations Association of the USA for her work with UNHCR in the year 2005.
It did not just stop at the awards, she also received Cambodian citizenship from Cambodia¡¯s King Norodom Sihamoni for her conservation work in the country.
cbsnews.com
Considering her amazing contribution, the UNHCR , in 2010, promoted Angelina from a Goodwill Ambassador to a diplomat. She is now a special envoy that represents the UN Refugee Agency to other diplomats, governments, and officials around the world!
A couple of years ago, she used her diplomatic status to up her political activism and spoke out against sexual violence in armed conflict.
Talking about this cause, she said, ¡°I understand there are many things that it is difficult for the Security Council to agree on, but sexual violence in conflict should not be one of them. That it is a crime to rape young children is not something anyone in this room would not be able to agree on¡±.
aragreek.com
Angelina along with husband Brad Pitt established the Jolie Pitt Foundation in 2006 to expand their philanthropic work around the globe. They kicked off their foundation by donating $1 million to Doctors Without Borders and Global Action for Children.
In fact, during her first pregnancy in 2006 with Shiloh Nouvel, Angelina gave People magazine exclusive rights to publish the first picture of her with a baby bump in exchange for a $500,000 donation to the charities she and Brad supported!
cfr.org
Angelina became a member of the CFR in the year 2007. After joining CFR, she funded many special reports, including the ¡°Intervention to Stop Mass Atrocities and Genocide.¡±
Followed by several visits to Haiti, she then teamed up with the CFR and established the Jolie Legal Fellows Program in 2010 to enhance government capacity around the legal system.
This particular organisation was started in the USA in 1998. The aim of the organisation is to provide food, medicine, hygiene supplies and relief supplies to Afghan citizens. It also provides free education to more than 800 children and adult students.
Jolie teamed up with fellow celebrities in 2007 for ARO¡¯s Afghan Kites Project. Jolie signed a kite to auction off to raise funds.
englishbolivia.com
She is also the primary supporter for the Alliance for the Lost Boys, which provides medical coverage along with education and school supplies for the Lost Boys of Sudan and their families.
Apart from these she also supports the following charities and foundations:
Cancer Schmancer Movement, Care to Learn, Cinema For Peace, Clinton Global Initiative, Daniel Pearl Foundation, Doctors Without Borders, Human Rights Watch, Kids in Need of Defense, Peace One Day, SOS Children's Villages, UNICEF, Women in the World Foundation, Y¨¦le Haiti Foundation etc.
According to confirmed reports by BBC, Angelina is now all set to join the London School of Economics (LSE) as a visiting professor on a new masters course on women, peace and security!
telegraph.co.uk
With the kind of work that she has been doing, Angelina Jolie represents the modern woman. Keep doing the work that you do Angelina, and one day the world will surely become a better place!