Angelina Jolie leaves United Nations refugee work after 20 years

Angelia Jolie is leaving her post as a special envoy to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) so she can help more directly with displaced people and local humanitarian groups, she said in a statement Friday.

The 47-year-old actress — arguably the organization’s most famous member — said she’s “moving on” from her role, which she has fulfilled under various titles since 2001 after visiting dozens of disaster-stricken and war-ravaged areas on humanitarian missions.

“After 20 years working within the UN system I feel it is time for me to work differently, engaging directly with refugees and local organizations, and supporting their advocacy for solutions,” Jolie said in a joint statement with the United Nations Refugee Agency. 

“I will continue to do everything in my power in the years to come to support refugees and other displaced people,” she said.

Over the past two decades, the Oscar-winning star has visited 60 field sites including in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan — bringing with her the Hollywood limelight, and ultimately media coverage to spotlight often overlooked areas.

Now she wants to advocate for refugees in a “broader” way, according to her statement.

“At a time when the world is facing complex, multi-faceted, and interconnected crises, she plans to engage with a wider range of actors on a broader set of humanitarian issues as well as work more directly with local organizations,” the statement said. “Her portfolio will continue to include refugees and issues of forced displacement.”

The “Girl, Interrupted” star first began working with the UN as a good-will ambassador in 2001 after fliming “Tomb Raider” in Cambodia and seeing the poverty within the country and wanting to make a difference. She was then given the role of special envoy for UNHCR in 2011. Under the rules of the organization, all humanitarian missions undertaken by envoys such as Jolie have to be entirely funded by the celebrity themself.

“Angelina Jolie has been an important humanitarian partner of UNHCR for very long,” said Filippo Grandi, the refugee agency’s high commissioner. “After a long and successful time with UNHCR, I appreciate her desire to shift her engagement and support her decision.”

Jolie’s refugee work has also included visiting a refugee camp in Turkey to highlight the plight of Syrian refugees, helping Bosnian refugees suffering from the country’s civil war and donating $100,000 to the victims of Pakistan’s disastrous floods in 2010.