Angelina Jolie is leaving her role as a special envoy to the United Nations refugee agency after 21 years in the job.
In her role, Jolie focused on major crises that result in mass population displacements, undertaking advocacy and representing the agency and the High Commissioner at the diplomatic level.
In a joint statement issued on Friday, the actress and the agency announced she was “moving on” from her role as the agency’s special envoy “to engage on a broader set of humanitarian and human rights issues.”
“Angelina Jolie has been an important humanitarian partner of UNHCR for very long. We are grateful for her decades of service, her commitment, and the difference she has made for refugees and people forced to flee. After a long and successful time with UNHCR, I appreciate her desire to shift her engagement and support her decision. I know the refugee cause will remain close to her heart, and I am certain she will bring the same passion and attention to a wider humanitarian portfolio. I look forward to our continued friendship,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi.
“I will continue to do everything in my power in the years to come to support refugees and other displaced people,” Jolie was also quoted as saying in the statement, adding that she felt it was time “to work differently” by directly engaging with refugees and local organizations.
Angelina Jolie first started working with the U.N. refugee agency in 2001 as a goodwill ambassador. She was appointed its special envoy in 2012.
