IN PICS: Angelina Jolie is UNHCR's special envoy
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Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has been appointed as Special Envoy of the United Nations refugee agency.
Angelina, who was the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees's Goodwill Ambassador, has been promoted as the Special Envoy of High Commissioner Antonio Guterres.
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Image: Angelina Jolie speaks during an annual meeting of UNHCR's governing executive committee in Geneva
Photographs: Jason Tanner/Reuters
IN PICS: Angelina Jolie is UNHCR's special envoy
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It is the first time that the UN refugee agency has named a special envoy, UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards said.
Such posts are usually reserved for career diplomats or retired politicians.
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Image: Angelina Jolie waits to meet Pakistan's Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani at the prime minister's residence in Islamabad
Photographs: Faisal Mahmood/Reuters
IN PICS: Angelina Jolie is UNHCR's special envoy
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"Her work does go substantially beyond what we would typically see as being the normal role of a goodwill ambassador," Edwards told reporters.
"I don't think you need a rocket scientist to see the benefits that she is bringing in terms of the attention that she is getting for the plight of the world's displaced," he added.
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Image: Angelina Jolie presents Nansen prize at a UN ceremony in Geneva
Photographs: Jason Tanner
IN PICS: Angelina Jolie is UNHCR's special envoy
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In her new role, Jolie is expected to "focus on large-scale crises resulting in the mass displacement of people, to undertake advocacy and represent UNHCR and Guterres at the diplomatic level, engaging with relevant interlocutors on global displacement issues," UNHCR said in a statement.
It added that Guterres is grateful to Jolie for accepting this role at a critical time in global displacement and that her new status as Special Envoy is effective immediately.
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Image: Angelina Jolie looks on during a news conference at the World Economic Forum in Davos
Photographs: Pascal Lauener/Reuters
IN PICS: Angelina Jolie is UNHCR's special envoy
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During a decade of service as UNHCR's Goodwill Ambassador, Jolie has conducted more than 40 field visits around the world, "becoming an expert on the phenomenon of forced displacement and a tireless advocate on their behalf.
Jolie was named a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador at UNHCR headquarters on August 27, 2001.
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Image: Angelina Jolie wears a headscarf as she arrives at the Jalozai flood victim relief camp during her visit to flood affected areas and relief camps supported by the UNHCR in Pakistan's northwest Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province
Photographs: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
IN PICS: Angelina Jolie is UNHCR's special envoy
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Last year, the 35-year-old actress had skipped Oscars and visited Afghanistan as part of her work as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for refugees. She met with those struggling to survive and adjusting after years in exile.
In addition to her field missions, Jolie uses her public profile to promote humanitarian causes through the mass media.
Image: Angelina Jolie is seen with Karenni refugee children in Thailand's Mae Hong Son Province, near the Thai-Myanmar border
Photographs: K McKinsey/Reuters/UNHCR
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