"This generous donation came just months after Angelina Jolie made a personal visit to a refugee camp in Chad and it shows, once again, her and Brad Pitt's commitment to helping refugees and the displaced," said Michel Gabaudan, UNHCR's Regional Representative for the United States and the Caribbean. "As Goodwill Ambassador, Ms. Jolie's continued support of UNHCR and those we seek to help is a powerful force in ensuring they are not forgotten."
Jolie has visited the high-need Chad and Darfur region three times. During her recent visit to the Oure-Cassoni camp, she said she was struck by the sense of hope she encountered and by the widespread desire for peace-keepers to be deployed in eastern Chad. In Oure-Cassoni, Jolie met staff working for SOS who were providing psychological assistance to traumatized children.
"The children benefit enormously from the therapy," said Yolanda van den Broek, project leader of the Emergency Relief Program of SOS Children's Villages in Chad. "Children who at first did not speak, did not eat and who were isolated in their own worlds, are now playing happily and are able to interact with others."
Jolie has long been familiar with SOS and our humanitarian work throughout the world. She visited an SOS Village in Amman, Jordan in 2003 and brought much joy and happiness to the Village. After returning from her journey, Jolie made a generous donation towards the living costs of an SOS family in Amman.
SOS Children's Villages has a strong commitment to raising orphaned and abandoned children throughout the world. The generous contribution from the Jolie-Pitt Foundation helps these efforts and allows SOS to continue helping thousands in Chad, Sudan and beyond.