Angelina Jolie Makes a Visit to Refugees in Burkina Faso
Actress Angelina Jolie, Special Envoy for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), visited the refugees and internally displaced people of Burkina Faso for World Refugee Day on June 21.
Per La Prensa Latina, Angelina Jolie visited internally displaced people in Burkina Faso’s city of Kaya and the Goudoubo refugee camp, which houses people fleeing from Mali. Since 2019, about 1.2 million people in the West African country have fled their homes because of jihadist activity and other conflicts.
At the ceremony celebrating World Refugee Day, Jolie said, “One in 95 people are forcibly displaced- one percent of humanity. And the numbers are rising. We have to wake up to the track we are on globally, with so many conflicts raging. And the very real possibility that climate change will force tens if not hundreds of millions of people to have to leave their homes in the future with no possibility of return. The truth is, we are not doing half of what we could and should.”
Jolie told the conference at the Goudoubo camp, “I’m here to show my solidarity with the Burkinabe people, who continue to welcome the displaced brothers and sisters despite terrible attacks and challenges, sharing what little they have at a time when other countries with far more have closed their borders and their minds to the refugees.”
The actress became a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 2001. After advocating for the lives of refugees for over a decade, she became the organization’s Special Envoy in 2012.
“The way the international community tries to address conflict and insecurity is broken”
— UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency (@Refugees) June 21, 2021
In Burkina Faso for #WorldRefugeeDay, UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie called on the world to focus on finding solutions to reduce refugee numbers globally. https://t.co/1Shvl5z7sR pic.twitter.com/j66G3GjRR8
Other work the activist has done as Special Envoy was meeting with children in Columbia who fled from Venezuela.
To learn more about Angelina Jolie’s work as Special Envoy, visit the UNHCR website. You can also learn about the refugees in Burkina Faso and donate.
