Angelina Jolie is donating a portion of the proceeds from the soundtrack of her latest film In The Land Of Blood And Honey to charity. The actress has stepped behind the camera to make her directorial debut for the movie, which she wrote about a romance between a Serbian soldier and a Bosnian woman. And Jolie, who is a keen philanthropist, has vowed to hand over some of the profits from the soundtrack to the Sos Children’s Villages program in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The charity helps youths in the region who are still suffering from the impact of the Balkans war in the 1990s. Jolie says, “We are happy that a portion of the proceeds from the film’s soundtrack will support Sos Children’s Villages in Bosnia and Herzegovina to provide stable, family-based homes to children, regardless of religion, ethnicity or gender, who do not have their own families to care for them.”

Source: Contactmusic

Angelina Jolie has urged the world to support Libyan refugees. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jolie spoke in Kabul, Afghanistan about the country’s protests against leader Muammar Gaddafi. “The world needs to address this moment. We have to give people safe passage, evacuation if needed, and ensure they have asylum. We don’t want to look back and find their deaths are on our hands,” she said of the refugees residing in Afghanistan. Jolie, who is the UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, also spoke about the pending civil war in Africa’s Côte d’Ivoire. She said: “As we witness these newest crises unfold in west and north Africa, it is critical that all parties respect the fundamental right of people in danger to flee to safety – whether civilians caught in conflict in their own country or refugees and asylum seekers caught in new conflicts.” She added: “All I’m asking is that civilians be protected, and not targeted or harmed.” The actress warned against perpetuating the “cycle of instability and new crises”.

Source: Digital Spy

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have donated $2 million (£1.2m) to the Naankuse Wildlife Sanctuary in Namibia. Pitt and Jolie spent Christmas staying at the sanctuary with their family. According to Monsters and Critics, the donation to the sanctuary is being made in daughter Shiloh’s name, as she was born in the African country. “We want her to be very involved and grow up with the understanding of her country of birth,” said Jolie. The couple also revealed that they are friendly with the sanctuary’s directors, Rudie and Marlice van Vuuren. “We have known Rudie and Marlice for many years and continue to be impressed by their hard work and dedication to the people and conservation of the land and wildlife of Namibia,” Jolie declared.

Source: Digital Spy

Angelina Jolie is leading donations for the flood relief effort in Pakistan – the superstar has handed over $100,000 (£66,666) of her own money to help those worst affected. The actress, who is a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations (U.N.), called for her fans to help raise funds for the Pakistani people whose lives have been devastated by the floods which hit the country last month. And as the death toll reaches more than 2,000 and fears increase about the spread of water-borne diseases, Jolie and her partner Brad Pitt have donated part of their fortune to help boost aid for the country, according to news agency AFP. The Tomb Raider star frequently gives away money to help others – she donated $1 million (£666,666) to Doctors Without Borders to help earthquake survivors in Haiti earlier this year, as well as handing over $75,000 (£50,000) to build a girls school in Afghanistan.

Source: Contactmusic

US actor Angelina Jolie said on Monday she was concerned by the increasingly heavy impact of conflict in Somalia on civilians. “I am deeply troubled by the complete and utter disregard for human life in Somalia,” said Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the Geneva-based UN refugee agency (UNHCR). Noting that civilians – particularly in the capital Mogadishu – were facing increasing threats, Jolie called for fighters to stop waging wars in residential areas. UNHCR has termed Somalia’s situation as “one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world today with half the population in urgent need of humanitarian assistance”. According to the agency’s figures, there are more than 1.4 million Somalis displaced inside the country and approximately 570 000 live as refugees in neighbouring countries. Somalia has been beset by unrest since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Over 20 000 people have died in an insurgency triggered in early 2007 after Ethiopia invaded and ousted the Islamist regime in charge at the time. Islamist militias now control large swaths of land in the country over which the weak, Western-backed central government has limited authority. Source: News24.com

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have flown to eastern Europe for a private visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Hollywood couple has been staying in Venice, Italy over the last few weeks while Jolie films her new movie The Tourist. And the pair has taken advantage of a break in filming to fly to the capital city of Sarajevo on Sunday (April 04). Pitt and Jolie will be escorted by officials from the United Nations children’s organisation UNICEF on their trip, which is expected to include a trip to Srebrenica, the site of the worst atrocities in the 1990s war. Aida Prljaca, UNICEF’s representative in Sarajevo, tells website Sarajevo-X that the couple is on a “private visit”.

Angelina Jolie has opened a school for girls in Afghanistan after donating $75,000 (£50,000) towards education facilities for female students. The Hollywood actress visited the Tangi region in the war-torn country in October 2008, and was moved by the stories of displaced families who were reluctant to send their daughters to mixed schools for cultural reasons. Jolie, who works as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations (U.N), donated a sum of cash to help build a girls school in the region and the institution finally opened its doors on Monday (March 15) – 18 months after the star’s visit. The building features eight classrooms, four administration buildings and can accommodate up to 800 students. Speaking at the opening ceremony, 14-year-old Laila, whose family returned to Afghanistan from neighbouring Pakistan in 2008, praised Jolie and the U.N. for pouring money into education. She said, “I always had hopes and dreams of going to school. The hope to become a qualified teacher has revived in me.” Her father, Ustad, adds, “This is what we needed here and I believe there is a need for every community if we want to build the future of our country – to build schools and get education.”

Angelina Jolie has met with the president of the Dominican Republic to discuss the country’s aid efforts to help the people of the nation’s earthquake-ravaged neighbour Haiti. The Hollywood actress flew to Santo Domingo earlier this week to visit patients at Dario Contrera Hospital, where dozens of survivors of the January 12 disaster are receiving medical treatment. Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations, turned her charity trip into a power meeting when she sat down for talks with President Leonel Fernandez on Monday evening (February 08). The pair discussed the work officials from the Dominican Republic are currently doing to help the relief efforts in neighbouring Haiti, while Fernandez also took the opportunity to praise the actress for her tireless humanitarian work. Jolie made her way to Haiti on Tuesday (February 09) so she could witness first-hand the devastation caused by the 7.0-magnitude tremors, which plunged the nation into chaos. The superstar and her partner Brad Pitt are among a host of generous celebrities who have all given huge cash sums to aid those affected by the Haiti earthquake. The couple donated $1 million (GBP625,000) to the relief effort from its charity foundation.