Angelina Jolie, a current United Nations goodwill ambassador to the High Commissioner for Refugees, has accepted an expanded position of Special Representative on the Afghan refugee situation, the UN announced Tuesday in Geneva, Switzerland.
In this new role, she is expected to work with the governments of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan on the Afghan refugee issue.
According to the UN agency, Pakistan and Iran host a combined 2.7 million displaced Afghan refugees. Jolie has worked with the UN for 10 years, where her work has taken her to 40 troubled locations around the world including far-flung countries like Ecuador and Somalia. She was recently recognized for her unusually long tenure as a UN goodwill ambassador.
She spoke Monday at the United Nations Refugee Agency Awards about her work: “From them I’ve learned so much. I’ve learned to be a better person, a better mother. They’ve inspired me by showing me the unbreakable strength of the human spirit.”
Jolie is the mother of six children, three of whom were adopted from countries Jolie visited doing work with the UN. InTouch Weekly recently reported that although husband Brad Pitt would like her to take time off from her career, Jolie has no intention of slowing her pace anytime soon.