Angeline Jolie honoured with Freedom Award by UN

Monday, November 12, 2007

Washington (ANI): Angelina Jolie has been recognised for her work in improving the plight of refugees the world over. The UN goodwill ambassador shared the prestigious International Rescue Committee's (IRC) Freedom award with the UN high commissioner for refugees, Antonio Guterres.

In a video message at the New York award ceremony she hailed the "close partnership" between the UN high commission for refugees (UNHCR) and the IRC. Mr Guterres told attendees that the award was a symbol for people. "The Freedom award is a symbol that we will only be able to fully enjoy our freedom when everyone else is able to enjoy theirs," Contactmusic quoted him, as saying.

The UNHCR is tasked with protecting the rights of the ten million-plus refugees worldwide and the 25 million people who have been displaced by internal conflicts. Now in its 50th year, previous winners of the IRC's Freedom award include Winston Churchill (1958), Burmese Nobel laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (1995) and former US presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton (2006).