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.