Angelina Jolie
UN ambassador travels to Yemen’s ‘forgotten conflict’
Committed: Angelina Jolie speaking in Washington in February 2022.
© imago/ZUMA Wire
Angelina Jolie in Yemen. The actress and UN special envoy is campaigning for attention to the “forgotten conflict” in the country.
US actress Angelina Jolie (46) has arrived in Yemen. The actress and special ambassador of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees wants to draw attention to the humanitarian crisis in the Arab country. She describes the civil war in Yemen as a “forgotten conflict”.
“I landed in Aden to meet displaced families and refugees and to show my support for the people of Yemen,” writes Jolie on Instagram. “I will do my best to report from the field over the course of the day.”
One of the worst humanitarian crises in the world
Aden is the de facto capital of Yemen after Houthi rebels seized the actual capital, Sanaa. The country on the Arabian peninsula has been caught in a civil war between government troops and Shia Houthi insurgents since 2014. Observers see the conflict as a proxy war between the regional powers Saudi Arabia and Iran.
“The situation in this country is one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world: one civilian will be killed or injured every hour in 2022,” writes Angelina Jolie. “A war-torn economy and over 20 million Yemenis dependent on humanitarian aid to survive”.
Jolie posted a video with the text showing a bird’s-eye view of refugee camps. Pictures show destroyed houses and children in front of a blackboard. According to Jolie, two million young Yemenis are currently unable to go to school.
“Everyone deserves the same compassion”
The picture gallery closes with a text that is supposed to classify Jolie’s mission in the times of the Ukraine war. “We must not selectively decide who deserves support and whose rights we defend,” it says. “Everyone deserves equal compassion. The lives of civilian victims of conflict are worth the same everywhere.”