UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie travels throughout the world to assist UNHCR in its work with refugees and displaced people. Recently she has released her journals from the Russian Federation and Jordan, where she visited in late 2003. The journals capture the hope and despair of the refugees and other displaced persons that Ms. Jolie met while on mission to these post-conflict societies.

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie with displaced Chechens in Bella camp, Ingushetia. The camp has since been closed. Last December, Ms. Jolie visited Ruweished camp in eastern Jordan where more than 500 refugees have settled after fleeing the conflict in Iraq last spring. Most of them are Palestinians, though some have travelled from Somalia and Sudan.

At the camp's pre-school, the children sang and performed for Goodwill Ambassador Jolie. One boy recalled, "We were living in Baghdad in peace. Then the first day of war we were very frightened with bombs and missiles." The children agreed, when asked by Ms. Jolie, that the most difficult part of living in a refugee camp was the cold weather and the sandstorms.

Aged between four and twelve, the children told her "their dream is to see their homeland," Jolie wrote. "To live as citizens of a country they belong to." Most of them aspired to be teachers and doctors, though there was one boy who chose to be a lawyer. He told Ms. Jolie the reason: "To make justice for people, there needs to be more justice."

Summing up the despair in the camp, a man took the floor, hands shaking as he spoke: "We have lost our families. We now go from country to country to find a way to live as human beings. We are beginning to lose hope."

In August, the Goodwill Ambassador traveled to the Russian Federation, where she met with refugees from Chechnya and elsewhere. During her four day trip, she travelled to the republic of Ingushetia, where she met with the Ingush president and visited Bella and Sputnik camps. When she visited North Ossetia, which borders the neighboring country of Georgia, she visited a transit center and refugee settlement, welcomed by a traditional dance and refugees grateful for their new homes. Finally, she visited Moscow, where she was invited into the homes of African refugees.

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie visiting Jordan's Ruweished refugee camp in December 2003. Jolie's Russian journal recounts more than her experiences in the region; she also reflects on her concern for humanitarian aid personnel working in the field. Aid workers have been attacked in the Caucasus region and killed in Baghdad, bombed just days before the start of her mission. She also notes the deaths of UNHCR supporter Annalena Tonnelli in Somalia and aid worker Bettina Goislard in Afghanistan.

She reflects on the seeming indifference of the developed world to the crisis in Chechnya: "Is it old news? Are they too many? Or is it that they have nothing we feel to give to us in return?" she asks. "Which is of course wrong because they have everything to offer."

"At the end of the day, what should that matter, we are equal," she concludes. "They are families like us. And they need our help, our support. And in areas like Chechnya, they need us not to forget."

Earlier in 2003, Angelina Jolie also visited Sri Lanka and Kosovo, where she interacted with refugees and listened to their stories. Her journals are linked below.

In the past the Goodwill Ambassador has traveled to refugee camps in Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Pakistan, and Ecuador. Her past journals can now be found in a new paperback book, "Notes from My Travels" (Simon and Schuster) in a bookstore near you.

Angelina Jolie was appointed UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador in August 2001. To raise awareness and support for refugees she has traveled to Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Balkans and the North Caucasus. Jolie has also been a generous contributor to UNHCR’s programs around the world.

To read the UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador's journals you must have Adobe Acrobat. To view the journals please visit the UNHCR website here.

Courtesy of UNHCR

The following is a breakdown of how the UNHCR helps those in need..

Europe
There is a high amount of asylum and immigration and it is highly politicised. The number of asylum decreased dramatically in 2003, governments still introduce new laws to attempt to reduce the in pouring.

The Balkans
Many problems remain here even though there has been considerable progress to make changes after the Balkan Wars in the 1990s. After the wars, more than 2 million people returned home but still 600,000 people remain displaced across the area.

North Caucasus
50,000 displaced persons still receive assistance from UNHCR after the war in Russian Republic of Chechnya.

The Palestinian Issue
There are more than 4 million Palestinian refugees are reported globally. Most of them are under the care of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency but UNHCR helps the 400,000 Palestinian refugees who are outside the UNRWA operational zone.

Iraq
More than 3 million Iraqi civilians went into exile and a further 1 million people were uprooted inside the country during Saddam Hussein’s rule. UNHCR now helps 100,000 refugees in Iraq and the largest number are Palestinians.

Afghanistan
More than 3.5 refugees and displaced persons from Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001. However, more than 2 million still remain in Pakistan and Iran.

Horn of Africa
There are still many refugees remaining in this area. More than 900,000 Somalis and Southern Sudanese are in constant refuge in Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti. Following the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan, more than 180,000 Sudanese fled to Chad.

Central Africa
There are still 1.2 million refugees remaining throughout many of the states in central Africa. However, many refugees are now thankfully returning home.