USA: Actress Angelina Jolie and U.N. Goodwill Ambassador is awarded in New York for her humanitarian work across the world

Actress Angelina Jolie received recognition for another aspect of her life, outside of her Hollywood career and widely publicised relationship with Brad Pitt, on Tuesday (October 11) night in New York City. Jolie was presented with the 2005 Global Humanitarian Action Award by the United Nations Association of the USA, 'UNA-USA', for her work as a goodwill ambassador for the UN High Commission for Refugees. The UNA-USA is one of America's largest grassroots foreign policy organization whose mission is to educate Americans about various critical issues tackled by the United Nations. The award ceremony took place at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and while there had been speculation about Jolie's reported beau, Brad Pitt, making an appearance with the actress, eventually, he did not turn up. Instead, there were a lot of United Nations dignitaries and officials at the black tie event. In her award acceptance speech, Jolie seemed moved, almost emotional, as she spoke of what the award meant to her and why she felt the work of the United Nations was so relevant and important. "To receive an award for something that has been the greatest privilege in my life is quite a strange thing but, but it means a lot to me. Second to my children, spending time with refugees and other persons of need around the world, has been the greatest gift. It's been the greatest life lesson I could ever receive," she said. Jolie has been an advocate for the protection of refugees of five continents since her appointment to the post in August 2001. In addition to her work with refugee populations, UNA-USA emphasized that with this award, she was also being recognized for her efforts in drawing attention to AIDS and in fighting solutions to ending poverty, hunger and disease. During a recent trip to Kenya, Jolie joined Millennium Project Director, Jeffrey Sachs, in creating a documentary demonstrating solutions to ending poverty. At the ceremony, a video tribute to Jolie's humanitarian work depicted her meeting refugees all over the world and taking profuse notes to note their complaints as well as possible plans to help them. Sachs, who wasn't able to make it to New York for the ceremony, pitched in with a short video message that raised a toast to Jolie's good efforts. Explaining the motivation for her extensive work with refugees, Jolie said: "I think they are just some of the most amazing people I ever met, and they are very strong, and they're inspiring and they certainly need our attention and deserve it, so it's an easy choice and it's really a joy to do." When asked by a reporter about how she balanced all her humanitarian work with her responsibilities as a mother, Jolie made her priorities clear. She said: "I'm a mom first and they keep me balanced." Jolie's humanitarian work was recognized not just on stage but also off stage. President of the General Assembly, Jan Eliasson explained why the actress was a worthy recipient of the UNA-USA Award. "She takes her task very seriously. She's out there in the field, she has as we say 'dirt under the nails'. She doesn't shy away from the problems, she speaks out. I think this is good. She has a recognition factor that we diplomats don't have and therefore for her to stand up for international cooperation and international solidarity is a wonderful thing." Also in the same ceremony on Tuesday night, philanthropist Leonore Annenberg was honoured with the 2005 UNA-USA Global Leadership Award, which was accepted on her behalf by U.S. intelligence chief John D. Ne

ITN Source | October 15, 2005

Tags:. .gift. .disease. .choice. .attention. .various