Mary Green's articles are always a couple of notches above what
People's staff writers produce. While Green has interviewed them many times in the past, this time she notably does not say that she talked to or even corresponded with Angelina. (She also avoided mentioning the filing.) It appears Green was simply handed prepared quotes intended to call attention to humanitarian issues with a few personal tidbits sprinkled in to make it more enticing for tabloid readers. They did the same for
Mon Guerlain. The new family news confirms that Maddox will be leaving for college in the fall.
In pointing out that her
lifelong friends are mostly women she worked with
in the field, specifically citing two UNHCR workers whom she met in Cambodia with Loung, she highlights the personal value of humanitarian work. She emphasizes that her inner circle is largely made up of like-minded
women and they have all remained steadfast through the different stages of their lives, through good times and bad, in their
dedication and
commitment to helping
others. These friends are not known to the public and certainly not people who would talk to any tabloid. (Another reminder to ignore all the laughable garbage from the clueless tabloids and pseudo fans.)
That she is not ruling out a run for public office was already touched on in her BBC interview last December but always makes for an intriguing, attention-grabbing headline. The "Never say never" and Maddox articles are by staff writers and typically awkward and sloppy even where they are just repeating info from Green's.
The star’s passionate focus on improving the lives of
women around the world is part of her evolution as a longtime activist
By
Mary Green
April 02, 2019 06:51 PM
When
Angelina Jolie
first approached UNHCR over 18 years ago, it was to learn about the
world firsthand, to meet the people who were the innocent victims of war
in an effort to understand their plight and hopefully one day, be a
part of finding solutions.
Only 24 at the time, she was already a Hollywood superstar — an Oscar-winner who had just completed a major blockbuster,
Tomb Raider.
Stirred to action by what she saw and the people she met, Jolie signed
up to be a Goodwill Ambassador for the world’s largest refugee agency,
and from 2001-2012, when she was named Special Envoy, she took over 60
trips to war-torn locations.
From those early trips, her
activism has both broadened and deepened, and last Friday, she addressed
the U.N. Peacekeeping Ministerial—a gathering of the world’s Defense
Ministers—for the 3rd time.
In her speech, Jolie asked that the
member nations consider expanding the role of female peacekeepers in
their troops, and, just as crucial, that as peace negotiations in places
like Afghanistan begin, that women be allowed at the table.
“Women and girls are still the majority of the victims of war,” Jolie
said. “Women are at the absolute epicenter of modern conflict, in the
worst possible sense. But more often than not they are still on the
outside looking in when it comes to politics and decisions about their
future… As long as we continue to put almost every other issue ahead of
women’s rights and participation, we will remain stuck in a cycle of
violence and conflict.”
Jolie’s U.N. speech was really a culmination of 18 years of experience and immersion in foreign policy.
Today, her work is really focused on four big projects:
1. The Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI)
2. UNHCR
3. Women, Peace and Security Master’s program at the London School of Economics
4. A global current affairs children’s program in partnership with the BBC
Jolie co-founded PSVI in 2012 with former U.K. Foreign Minister
William Hague, and in less than seven years, 156 nations have pledged
support.
“There is now a lot more awareness
and discussion and many more countries have made commitments,” says
Jolie. “For example, 156 countries have pledged not to include amnesties
for rape when they are negotiating peace agreements. It is hard to
believe, but peace treaties routinely grant immunity to people who’ve
carried out the most disgusting violent crimes against civilians. So we
have to make sure all those countries live up to that commitment.”
In
November, Jolie and Hague plan
to reconvene the member nations for a conference (the first was in 2012)
to continue to come up with concrete solutions to combat sexual
violence in war zones.
While progress is being made, Jolie says it isn’t time for anyone to rest on their laurels.
“If you look across the world there
are far too many women and girls who are not only not seeing progress,
their rights are slipping away from them,” she says. “We have to change
laws that treat women as second-class citizens. But we also have to
enforce them. So one of the things we are putting forward now is a
proposal for a permanent international body to investigate war crimes,
including mass rape and other sexual and gender-based violence.”
She adds, “Unless you immediately
gather evidence and testimony that can stand up in court, there is no
chance of having successful prosecutions. At the moment it takes months
and even years to start proper investigations when there has been mass
rape carried out against a civilian population. We want to create a
permanent body of experts, lawyers and investigators who can do this
immediately.”
In addition to Jolie’s work on
PSVI, she is a visiting professor at the London School of Economics, at
the Centre for Women, Peace and Security, where she is expected to
return for more lectures later this year.
Since January 2018, she has been working with NATO as the
organization works to fight against sexual violence in combat zones, and
to better care for victims.
Later this year, Jolie— inspired by
her children: Maddox, 17, Pax, 15, Zahara, 14, Shiloh, 12, and Knox and
Vivienne, 10— partners with BBC to produce a children’s English
language television program that will focus on current affairs.
“We enjoy reading, the kids pull out the
New York Times and look at
National Geographic,”
she says. “But as a parent, I felt there wasn’t that one vetted and
reliable internationally-minded news program tailored for children that
we could sit down and watch together each week. That is what I hope this
will be for our family and other families.”
Jolie will also be making a much-anticipated return onscreen, when
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil hits
theaters Oct. 18. The follow-up to the 2014 hit, which raked in $750
million, also stars a returning Elle Fanning as Princess Aurora and
Michelle Pfeiffer as a new character.
“I love my horns,” says Jolie. “It is such a pleasure to play her and
I hope the audience enjoy her as much as I do. It was wonderful to work
again with Elle and to have a chance to work with Michelle.”
Jolie is also producing an adaptation of the Newberry Award-winning children’s book
The One and Only Ivan, about a gorilla named Ivan who lived in a cage in the mall.
For that, Jolie tapped pal (and
Survivor contestant) Mike White to write the script. The starry cast includes Oscar-winner Sam Rockwell and Emmy-winner Bryan Cranston.
“It was Shi’s favorite book a few years ago,” says Jolie. “I love its hopeful message about the environment and conservation.”
Meanwhile, Jolie will always be a strong advocate for UNHCR. In
February she traveled to Bangladesh to meet with Rohingya refugees who
have been persecuted in Myanmar. And this June, she will once again
participate in World Refugee Day, as she has for nearly two decades.
The organization changed her life in many ways, including providing her a lifelong circle of friends.
“The second UN mission I went on,
to Cambodia, I met two women from England and France who were working
with UNHCR,” Jolie recalls. “Loung (Ung, the author of
First They Killed My Mother, the book Jolie adapted into a film in 2017) was there as well.”
She adds, “Most of my friends are
women I have met and worked with in the field. Over 18 years our lives
have taken many turns. Good and bad. We have grown older, most of us
mothers now, still committed to shared goals. I feel very blessed in my
work to have the opportunity to meet so many extraordinary people who
spend their lives dedicated to others.”
By
Gillian Telling
She’s helped refugees fleeing war-torn countries, spoken before the U.N. and lectured at the London School of Economics.
But could
Angelina Jolie ever see herself running for office?
“Never say never,” Jolie, 43, tells PEOPLE in the new issue. “[But ] right now I am looking to others for leadership.”
Jolie’s a UNHCR Special Envoy who
helps refugees who are fleeing war-torn countries; she’s also long used
her platform to become one of the leading worldwide voices on women’s
empowerment and safety, working with the Preventing Sexual Violence in
Conflict Initiative, which aims to curb rape as a weapon in both war and
among those fleeing it.
The activist and actress, whose next film
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
will be out in October, has long balanced her film career with
motherhood (to kids Maddox, 17, Pax, 15, Zahara, 14, Shiloh, 12, and
twins Vivienne and Knox, 10) and her philanthropic efforts.
“I try to speak for what I believe
in,” Jolie says of her causes. Currently, one of those causes is that
the laws that treat women around the world like “second class citizens”
need to change.
“If you look across the world, there are far too many women and girls who are not only
not seeing progress, their rights are slipping away from them,” Jolie says.
But Jolie adds that the laws don’t just need to change. “We also have to
enforce them,” she says. “So one of the things we are putting forward
now is a proposal for a permanent international body to investigate war
crimes, including mass rape and other sexual and gender-based violence.”
Her PSVI initiative, which she set up along with former British
foreign secretary William Hague in 2012, has seen some progress in the
seven years since she founded it.
“There is now a lot more awareness
and discussion and many more countries have made commitments,” she says.
“For example, 156 countries have pledged not to include amnesties for
rape when they are negotiating peace agreements. It is hard to believe,
but peace treaties routinely grant immunity to people who’ve carried out
the most disgusting violent crimes against civilians. So we have to
make sure all those countries live up to that commitment.”
Jolie’s UN missions have not only helped women and refugees, but has
also delivered lifelong friends who are also working toward similar
goals.
“The second UN mission I went on,
to Cambodia, I met two women from England and France, Katie and Mimi,
who were working with UNHCR. Loung was there as well, and we did a UN
and HALO mission,” says the single mom, who split from husband
Brad Pitt in 2015.
“We have all been friends ever
since, for coming up on twenty years now,” she says. “I feel very
blessed in my work to have the opportunity to meet so many extraordinary
people who spend their lives dedicated to others.”
By Ale Russian
Angelina Jolie‘s first child is about to leave the nest.
The activist and actress, 43, is
preparing for her oldest son Maddox, 17, to attend college in the fall —
and the mom of six couldn’t be happier for him to take the big step.
“I’m nothing but proud,” Jolie tells PEOPLE in the latest issue. “I look forward to all he will do.”
Though Jolie doesn’t specify where
Maddox will be enrolling, the oldest in the Jolie-Pitt clan was seen
visiting universities in South Korea with his mom in tow last November.
The two visited campuses in Seoul while Jolie was in the country on an
official visit as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee
(UNHCR) Special Envoy.
