6 Impactful Ways Angelina Jolie Is Making a Difference in the World

After years of service as a Goodwill Ambassador, the actress was appointed the special envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 2012. Angelina has visited several refugee camps around the world including those in Syria, Jordan, Thailand, and Iraq, and has played a major role in finding solutions for people forced to flee their homes.

In 2012, Angelina cofounded the initiative with former Foreign Secretary Lord William Hague of Richmond to combat sexual violence in global conflict zones. She recently opened up about the campaign and the progress that's been made so far in Elle magazine's March 2018 issue.

"When it comes down to it, we still treat violence against women as a lesser crime," Angelina said. "Over 150 countries have signed a commitment to end impunity for war-zone rape. There are new teams in place to gather evidence and support prosecutions. I was in Kenya last Summer as UN peacekeeping troops received new training, since peacekeepers have been part of the problem. We're working with NATO on training, protection, and getting more women in the military, but there is so far to go."

Angelina teamed up with designer Stella McCartney in 2014 to launch the Draw Me to Safety Campaign to end sexual violence and help children living in war-torn countries. "One of the biggest challenges is to persuade people [that] we can actually change this situation," Angelina told Marie Claire in 2014. "We all agree that rape is a terrible crime. But many people have got used to thinking of it as an inevitable feature of war."

After adopting her son Maddox from Cambodia in 2002, Angelina created the Maddox-Jolie Foundation a year later. The charity's mission is to protect the national forest, end poverty, protect the environment, and establish healthcare and educational opportunities there.

Angelina has been an ambassador of the charity — which focuses on protecting the interests and rights of orphaned and abandoned children — for several years now. She's visited Haiti, Chad, Jordan, and Ethiopia with the organization, and has said in the past that she loves working with SOS because she has "seen that the children are growing up in a safe and loving environment."

Angelina and ex-husband Brad Pitt created the foundation in 2006 to aid humanitarian causes around the world. They launched the charity by making two huge contributions to two organizations: they donated $1 million to the now-discontinued Global Action for Children, and another $1 million to Doctors Without Borders to help families in extreme poverty affected by HIV/AIDS.