--- description: Since 2001, the actress been a tireless advocate for refugees around the world title: Angelina Jolie: Humanitarian image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2354e37c6292fe73/69869764169ab03a06279e2c/166301276.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Angelina Jolie: Humanitarian by [TIME Photo](/author/time-photo/) ## TIME Photo Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 14, 2023 10:02 AM CUTPublished: Jun 12, 2014 9:17 PM CUT  Actress Angelina Jolie leaves Lancaster House after attending the G8 Foreign Minsters' conference on April 11, 2013 in London. Actress Angelina Jolie leaves Lancaster House after attending the G8 Foreign Minsters' conference on April 11, 2013 in London.Oli Scarff—Getty Images by [TIME Photo](/author/time-photo/) ## TIME Photo Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 14, 2023 10:02 AM CUTPublished: Jun 12, 2014 9:17 PM CUT It was while she was in Cambodia in 2001, shooting _Lara Croft: Tomb Raider_, that Angelina Jolie became aware of the suffering of the people in that war-ravaged country — “my eyes started to open,” she would later say. That experience — and a greater understanding of a worldwide humanitarian crisis – led the actress to contact the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees later that year. In the years since, her work on behalf of the homeless and dispossessed has taken her to [more than 30 countries](http://www.unhcr.org/4399624c2.html "undefined") — including a few war zones — and to Washington, D.C., where she has pushed for legislation to assist refugees in troubled regions around the world. These images show just some of the globe-spanning good deeds done by the actress–turned–human rights activist. [**_Click here_** ](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2143559,00.html?pcd=pw-editteaser "undefined")**_to read the full story on The Angelina Effect: Why Her Mastectomy Raises Key Issues About Genes, Health and Risk, available exclusively for TIME subscribers._** **_Not a subscriber?_** [**_Click here_**](https://subscription.time.com/storefront/subscribe-to-time/link/1016309.html "undefined") **_to subscribe or purchase a digital access pass._** **Related Content:** [Angelina Jolie’s Public-Image Turnaround](http://entertainment.time.com/2013/05/14/angelina-jolies-public-image-turnaround/ "undefined") [Angelina Jolie’s Double Mastectomy: What We Know About BRCA Mutations and Breast Cancer](http://healthland.time.com/2013/05/14/angelina-jolies-double-mastectomy-what-we-know-about-brca-mutations-and-breast-cancer/ "undefined") [Angelina Jolie Says She Had Double Mastectomy](http://entertainment.time.com/2013/05/14/angelina-jolie-says-she-had-double-mastectomy/ "undefined")  UNHCR's Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie Pitt greets refugees and migrants during her visit to the port of Piraeus, Greece, March 16, 2016\. She urged the international community to respond to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II with generosity and not the "politics of fear." Louisa Gouliamaki—AFP/Getty Images  UNHCR special envoy Angelina Jolie Pitt shakes hands with Kachin ethnic refugee children as she visits Eight Miles Palana IDP camp in Myitkyina capital city of Kachin state, Myanmar on July 30, 2015. Soe Zeya Tun—Reuters  United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Special Envoy Angelina Jolie meets displaced Iraqis who are members of the minority Christian community, living in an abandoned school in Al Qosh, northern Iraq on Jan. 26, 2015\. Jolie wrote an Op-Ed for the New York Times on the suffering she witnessed there. Andrew McConnell—UNHCR/Reuters  Actress Angelina Jolie, right, is presented with the Insignia of an Honorary Dame Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, London, Oct. 10, 2014. Anthony Devlin—AP  Angelina Jolie. in her role as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Special Envoy, listening to Maltese military officers discussing rescue at sea operations for refugees at a military base in Valetta, Malta, Sept. 14, 2014. Pete Muller—EPA  Angelina Jolie, special envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), visits Karenni refugee Baw Meh, 75, and Baw Meh's family from Myanmar on World Refugee Day, at Ban Mai Nai Soi refugee camp, Myanmar in this photo release on June 20, 2014. R. Arnold—UNHCR/Reuters  Actress and Special Envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Angelina Jolie, hugs Neema Namadamu of the Democratic Republic of Congo a the 'End Sexual Violence in Conflict' summit in London June 11, 2014. Lefteris Pitarakis—Reuters  Actress Angelina Jolie leaves Lancaster House after attending the G8 Foreign Minsters' conference on April 11, 2013 in London. Oli Scarff—Getty Images  Angelina Jolie meets with refugees at the Zaatari refugee camp on Dec. 6, 2012 outside of Mafraq, Jordan. Jason Tanner—UNHCR/Getty Images  Angelina Jolie walks through the jungle led by Plinio, the President of Providencia community on April 22, 2012 in Ecuador. Jason Tanner—UNHCR/Getty Images  Angelina Jolie visits Libya to help agencies bringing aid to Libyans in Tripoli and Misrata on Oct. 11, 2011 in Misrata, Libya. Jason Tanner—UNHCR/Getty Images  Angelina Jolie speaks during an annual meeting of UNHCR's governing executive committee in Geneva Oct. 4, 2011. Jason Tanner—UNHCR/Reuters  Angelina Jolie, meets with Khanum Gul, 35, a mother of 8 and her youngest son, Samir at their makeshift home at Tamil Mill Bus site in Kabul city, Afghanistan in Feb. 2011. Jason Tanner—UNHCR/Getty Images  Angelina Jolie speaks with media during a visit to the Jalozai flood victim relief camp in Pakistan's northwest Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province on Sept. 7, 2010. Morteza Nikoubazl—Reuters  Actress Angelina Jolie visits the Green Zone in Baghdad Feb. 7, 2008. James Deady—U. S. Department of Defense/Reuters  Actress Angelina Jolie's back is seen as she arrives to attend the premiere of the film "A Mighty Heart" in New York, June 13, 2007. Lucas Jackson—Reuters  Angelina Jolie accepts the Global Humanitarian Award at the United Nations Association of the United States of America annual gala dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel Oct. 11, 2005 in New York. Evan Agostini—Getty Images  Angelina Jolie speaks at the National Press Club on March 8, 2005 in Washington DC. Jolie answered questions about her work as the Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations and her work with refugees and orphans. Win McNamee—Getty Images  Angelina Jolie arrives at the El-Geneina airport in West Darfur as the Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees on Oct. 25 2004. Cris Bouroncle—AFP/Getty Images  Actress Angelina Jolie visits Bella refugee camp Aug. 22, 2003 in Ingushetia, near the Chechen border in Russia's North Caucasus region. Tanya Makeeva—Getty Images  Angelina Jolie receives gifts from the children at the Tham Hin refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border May 19, 2002\. Jolie visited the camp on as part of her role as goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Sukree Sukplan—AFP/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2865972/angelina-jolie-humanitarian/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2865972/angelina-jolie-humanitarian/"},"headline":"Angelina Jolie: Humanitarian","datePublished":"2014-06-12T21:17:55.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-14T10:02:48.000Z","description":"Since 2001, the actress has been a tireless advocate for refugees around the world","url":"https://time.com/2865972/angelina-jolie-humanitarian/","keywords":["celebrities","Living","photography","UN","Angelina Jolie","celebrity","humanitarian"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2354e37c6292fe73/69869764169ab03a06279e2c/166301276.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Photo","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-photo/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2354e37c6292fe73/69869764169ab03a06279e2c/166301276.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FILE: Actress Angelina Jolie Reveals She Underwent a Preventative Double Mastectomy","caption":"FILE: Actress Angelina Jolie Reveals She Underwent a Preventative Double Mastectomy","creditText":"Oli Scarff—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2865972/angelina-jolie-humanitarian/","name":"Angelina Jolie: Humanitarian"}}]}] ```