Angelina Jolie Visited Refugee Girls In Kenya And Inspired
The actress you already know, is ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. With such a job, activism and humanitarian work abroad is expected. To mark World Refugee Day, Angelina Jolie visited refugee girls in Kenya. The mother-of-six gave such an empowering speech on sexual violence that the women she met, would have been inspired. In all, Heshima Kenya’s Girls’ Empowerment Project helps some 200 refugee girls, including those in the Safe House. While speaking at the International Peace Support Training Centre, Jolie said:
“Over half of all refugees and displaced people worldwide are women and children.
“How we treat them is a measure of our humanity as nations.”
“On World Refugee Day my only ask is that people consider the pain and suffering of young girls like these.
“Not only have they had to flee extreme violence or persecution, lost everything and witness the death of family members, but they have also had to face so much abuse and intolerance and hardship,” she added.
According to a statement from the UNHCR, the young women Angelina met with are now all part of the Heshima Kenya’s Girls’ Empowerment Programme—an initiative that works to provide them with education and practical skills to help them become self-reliant. It’s understood that most of the girls have previously given birth after being raped, or are currently pregnant.
This is Angelina Jolie’s third trip to Kenya. Approximately 491,000 refugees from neighbouring South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Rwanda and several other regions, according to the UNHCR.
In 2012, Jolie worked with former Foreign Secretary Lord William Hague to launch the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) with the aim of ending sexual violence in war zones, ensuring perpetrators are brought to justice and ensuring better support for survivors around the world.
‘The reality is that women and girls, as well as men and boys, can still be raped with near-total impunity in conflict zones around the world. On behalf of victims of sexual violence, I want to plead with all of you to take this issue seriously and personally, to use your position and your influence to spread this message within your armed forces and on all the missions on which you serve,’ she added.
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