Angelina Jolie and NBC news anchor Ann Curry joined hands with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres and others at National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C. today, to mark World Refugee Day 2009.
Hosting the event is something of a tradition for National Geographic. The Society has also backed the production of films, books, and articles that illustrate the sometimes tragic, sometimes triumphant stories of refugees.
Jolie and Curry are among a number of high-profile celebrities who have lent their names to draw attention to refugees. They have traveled to refugee camps in a number of countries to see and hear firsthand the stories of people who have lost families, jobs, homes, and countries.
“Refugees have profoundly changed my life,” Jolie told the gathering at National Geographic today. “They have taught me what it is to be brave … to be a mother … to have strength of character.”
Jolie has been a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees since 2001. Over the years she has visited nearly 30 refugee camps.
“There are millions of desperate families, so cut off from civilization that they don’t even know [World Refugee Day] exists,” Jolie said.