Angelina Jolie can't help but get emotional while discussing the conflict in Syria and the thousands of displaced children who have moved into refugee camps in Jordan.
The actress made her fourth visit to the camps since the conflict began five years ago, and she couldn't help but imagine what it would be like for her own children to experience such tragedy.
"There are children here who remember no life other than this harsh, desert environment and barbed wire fences," she said, talking to reporters as a special envoy for the UN's refugee agency on Friday. "There are teens here who bear terrible physical and mental wounds of the conflict—over half of all refugees in Jordan are under 18. My own children are of that age."
Jolie has six children of her own with Brad Pitt: Maddox, 15, Pax, 12, Zahara, 11, Shiloh, 10, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 8.
She kept them in mind while adding, "Like any other parent, it is impossible for me not to imagine what it would be like for my own children in this situation, and it breaks my heart."
The actress' goal is to raise awareness surrounding the refugee camps ahead of the UN General Assembly later this week. She wants the conversation to center on "the fundamental root causes of the Syria conflict and what it will take to end it."
Jolie explained, "After five years, refugees do not want to know by what percentage their lives might be made fractionally more bearable, but when they will be able to go home. They do not want to be the passive recipients of aid, they want a political solution."
She continued, "I wish families in Jordan, and across this region, Eid Mubarak. And to those for whom it is not a time of joy and celebration, but of exile, grief and hardship—my thoughts are with you."
Meanwhile, Jolie most recently returned to Bekaa Valley in Lebanon in March, which marked the fifth anniversary of the conflict in Syria. At the time, she pleaded with world leaders and governments to continue to take leadership in helping the millions displaced.
"In my view it comes down to understanding the law, choosing not to be afraid, and showing political will," she said at the time. "For the sake of the people of Syria, and for all the refugees around the world looking desperately to the international community to provide solutions, I hope we will do this."
She concluded, "And I also hope that the 15th of March next year will finally herald a Syria at peace, and will be the beginning of a time of returns so that these refugees are able to fulfill their desire to go home."