On World Refugee Day, Angelina Jolie paid a visit to a refugee camp in West Africa, where she gave an emotional address.

The 46-year-old Special Envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spoke in Burkina Faso while wearing a headscarf.

Burkina Faso is directly impacted by the ongoing displacement crisis in West and Central Africa’s Sahel area. Since 2019, almost 1.2 million individuals have been forced to evacuate their homes. Only two weeks ago, 138 people from one hamlet were murdered in the middle of the night by gunmen raiding their town, Solhaln. It was the country’s worst attack in more than six years.

The humanitarian remarked, “There is nowhere I would rather be today than here, with refugees, the people I admire most in the world.” The actress said it was time for powerful countries to “wake up” and help in her address.

According to the UN, financing for the country’s response to the refugee crisis is severely insufficient and needs to be increased by about 80%.

“We have to wake up to the track we are on globally, with so many conflicts raging and the very real possibility that climate change will force tens if not hundreds of millions of people to have to leave their homes in the future, with no possibility of return,” she said. “The way the international community tries to address conflict and insecurity is broken.”

“It is erratic, it is unequal, it is built on inherited privilege, it is subject to the whim of political leaders, and it is geared towards the interests of powerful countries,” she continued, adding, “The truth is we are not doing half of what we could and should to enable refugees to return home, or to support host countries, like Burkina Faso, coping for years with a fraction of the humanitarian aid needed to provide basic support and protection.”

The President of Faso, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, received the American actress and filmmaker, according to a report from Ouagadougou dated June 20.

Ms Jolie’s address comes after she worked with Amnesty International on a new book last year to assist young people understand their rights while opposing injustice.

Angelina also spent time in New York with her children last week, so the trip is timely. The actress apparently reconnected with her ex-husband Jonny Lee Miller and even introduced her two boys, Pax, 17, and Knox, 12, to her British boyfriend. Jonny and Knox “got on like a house on fire” at the time, according to a source, and Angelina was overjoyed at the idea of Jonny being a valued confidant for Pax, who has indicated interest in moving to the city.

“Angie is very happy because Pax keeps making noise about moving to New York someday soon, maybe even for school,” the source said. “She’s glad he’ll have someone she trusts around for him to go to for advice or just to see a friendly face.”