Angelina Jolie Implores World Leaders to Address ''Alarming'' Gender Inequalities in U.N. Speech

The actress is a special envoy to the United Nations

By Cydney Contreras Mar 29, 2019 11:16 PMTags
Angelina Jolie, UNUN Photo/Cia Pak

Angelina Jolie is making a plea for action.

On Friday, March 29, the humanitarian took to the stage at the United Nations in New York City, while wearing a chic Ryan Roche coat and Cartier jewelry. Standing in front of the world leaders, the actress makes a resounding speech asking people to consider the "perspective of women."

"Around the world there are countless examples of women rising, taking leadership, taking their destiny into their own hands, inspiring all of us. But women and girls are still the majority of the victims of war," Jolie explains. "Women are at the absolute epicenter of modern conflict, in the worst possible sense."

In her eyes, the only solution to this age-old problem is to put the people who are most afflicted "in charge of determining the solution." She continues, "Think of how much more we could achieve with women's equal participation in all aspects of society.  Not at the expense of men, but alongside men, because we are all partners in this life."

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The 43-year-old, who was appointed U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in 2012 and has been working with the agency for 18-years, also shares a profound experience she had on one of her peacekeeping trips. "I recently met a male peacekeeper who had just returned from deployment as a gender adviser in the Central African Republic. And he told me when he started his career service in Afghanistan, he considered women's rights to be a soft issue, and not what war is fought for. But his experiences have made him understand that is exactly should be fought for and exactly what stabilizes a country," she shares with hope in her voice. "His ability to contribute to this goal became a source of pride for him. He had made that jump in his thinking, and while [he was] doing a great service to his country already, he had now added that understanding and that sense of partnership with the women he served."

Selcuk Acar/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Jolie concludes her speech on a positive note: "We fall, we fail, we lose our way, often when we're made to feel afraid, but in our moments of strength and clarity we know that all people are in fact equal. We know that while we can and should be proud of who we are individually, we are a part of a global world and we know that we are supposed to come together in defense of something greater than ourselves."

If the Maleficent star's speech doesn't prove that Angie knows her stuff, then her numerous visits to refugee camps and other theaters of war will. Last year, she visited Iraq as part of her work as a special envoy for the UN and the year before she met adolescent refugee girls in Kenya. 

And when she isn't saving the world, the star spends her time with her six children. Most recently, she took them to a premiere of Dumbo, where her kids were positively beaming on the red carpet.