Angelina Jolie: $1 Mil to Refugees

By Stephen M. Silverman

Friday September 28, 2001 01:00 PM EDT

Angelina Jolie, 26, has donated $1 million to the United Nations refugee agency to help Afghani refugees, the Associated Press reports. Jolie, who was appointed as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees this past summer, made the gift as part of the agency's appeal for $268 million to meet the humanitarian needs in and around strife-torn Afghanistan. "This significant contribution from a concerned young American reinforces my belief that, despite the trauma of recent events in her country, a strong sense of humanitarian responsibility toward innocent civilians suffering in far-off places continues to animate the spirit of caring individuals everywhere," said High Commissioner Ruud Lubbers in a statement. In August, the "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" star visited Pakistan to witness firsthand the lives of some of the more than 3.5 million Afghanis living in camps there and in Iran. (In the past two and a half weeks, since the Sept. 11 attack on America, both Afghanistan and Iran have refused to side with the U.S. in its war against terrorism.) With the threat of U.S. retaliation attacks in Afghanistan, refugee officials are preparing for the arrival of up to 1.5 million more people.