Jolie draws focus to orphans
2005-11-18 09:57
Washington - Actress Angelina Jolie used her star power on Thursday to draw attention to a new United States law to help the world's orphans and to push for money to make it work.
The law, the Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act, was signed last week by President George W Bush. It directs the government to evaluate the effectiveness of US assistance aimed at the more than 143 million orphans living in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Caribbean. It also directs secretary of state Condoleezza Rice to appoint a special adviser to work on the crisis.
The law still needs to be backed by $340m in funding, said Republican Barbara Lee of California. That's about one-tenth of what the US is expected to devote to the global Aids crisis this year. Many orphans lost one or both their parents to Aids.
"By fully funding this legislation, we would be saying to the world that we believe that the life of a child in the poorest country is just as important, just as valuable, as the lives of the children in the United States," Jolie said at an event in a congressional office building celebrating enactment of the legislation.
Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR), has adopted two foreign orphans, a Cambodian son and an Ethiopian daughter. She won a supporting-actress Oscar for 1999's Girl, Interrupted.
- AP