UNITED NATIONS (AP) 鈥� and the refugee agency are parting ways after more than two decades.
In a the U.S. actor and the agency announced she was 鈥渕oving on鈥� from her role as the agency's special envoy 鈥渢o engage on a broader set of humanitarian and human rights issues.鈥�
鈥淚 will continue to do everything in my power in the years to come to support refugees and other displaced people,鈥� Jolie was quoted as saying in the statement, adding that she felt it was time 鈥渢o work differently鈥� by directly engaging with refugees and local organizations.
Jolie first started working with the U.N. refugee agency in 2001 and was appointed its special envoy in 2012. The release described as 鈥渃arrying out more than 60 field missions to bear witness to stories of suffering as well as hope and resilience."
鈥淎fter a long and successful time with UNHCR, I appreciate her desire to shift her engagement and support her decision,鈥� U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi was quoted as saying. 鈥淚 know the refugee cause will remain close to her heart, and I am certain she will bring the same passion and attention to a wider humanitarian portfolio.鈥�
In an opinion piece last month, Jolie alluded to frustration with the lack of global progress in ending sexual violence in conflict.
鈥淲e meet and discuss these horrors and agree that they should never be allowed to happen again. We promise to draw 鈥� and to hold 鈥� that line. But when it comes to hard choices about how to implement these promises, we run into the same problems time and again,鈥� she wrote, specifically calling out U.N. Security Council members for 鈥渁busing their veto power."
Jolie previously characterized the United Nations as 鈥渋mperfect鈥� but also defended the international body and said it needed to be supported.
She later pressed the United Nations to create a permanent and independent investigative body to amass and evaluate evidence in cases regarding alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and other human rights violations. While promoting that effort that promoting equality for women, combatting injustice, and helping refugees were the most important parts of her life after her children.
鈥淏ut in many ways, they go hand in hand," she said. Jolie has been involved in other advocacy efforts, of the Violence Against Women Act in the U.S.
Jolie began visiting refugee camps in 2001, and was appointed as a UNHCR goodwill ambassador that same year. At the time, the then-high commissioner to the plight of refugees.
Last year, Jolie that she was concerned that increasing displacement across the world would drive more instability 鈥� and that governments had to do something to address the conflicts at the root of the issue.
鈥淐ompared to when I began working with UNHCR 20 years ago, it seems like governments have largely given up on diplomacy ... countries which have the least are doing the most to support the refugees,鈥� she told the AP.
Developing countries play host to more than 80% of the world's refugees, according to UNHCR, which also announced in May that the for the first time. Speaking to the AP in August, to aid Ukrainian refugees but implored world leaders to remember the other humanitarian crises for which is agency was fundraising.
鈥淭he big problem that we have at the moment is that it tends to marginalize all other crises in which people suffer,鈥� Grandi said of Russia's war in Ukraine.
UNHCR lists on its website, including goodwill ambassadors like Australian actor Cate Blanchett, British author Neil Gaiman and Pakistani actor Mahira Khan.
In response to a request for additional comment, a spokesperson for the U.N. agency declined to offer further details beyond saying that UNHCR 鈥渉as no intention of appointing anyone else in the role of special envoy.鈥�
The Associated Press
