Angelina Jolie praises ‘brave’ refugees in heartfelt message

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DUBAI: US humanitarian and actress Angelina Jolie took to Instagram on Monday to mark World Refugee Day with a heartfelt message to her friends from across the world.

“On this year’s World Refugee Day I celebrated dinner with new friends from Ukraine, Afghanistan, Mali, C?te d’Ivoire, Congo, Egypt, Kurdistan, Nigeria, and Gambia,” she posted, adding: “I’m grateful that among so much heaviness in the world, these brave people shared their time and stories with me. Family, friends, and food bring people together and I was honored to be joined by new friends to eat, share, and learn.”

The star, who is a UNHCR Special Envoy, is known for her work with refugees and has visited numerous camps across the world in recent years, including trips to Yemen, Burkina Faso and Bangladesh.

Last week, she took to Instagram to shed light on the plight of children in war.

“Children bear the greatest consequences from war. Globally, children account for 30 percent of the population but represent 41 percent of all forcibly displaced people. A collective effort to address the physical and emotional manifestations from trauma must meet not only the needs of children in Ukraine but also Afghanistan, Yemen and so many other often forgotten conflicts that are funded far below levels adequate to meet children’s needs,” she posted.

“Local and community-led organizations are innovating new ways to connect children with tools to learn, and nutrition to grow, to help protect them from the worst outcomes of this war, but the global humanitarian response can and must be stronger to ensure this generation of kids have the resources they need to begin healing,” Jolie added.