Put aside corruption fears and donate cash: Jolie

Jolie said people should not use corruption as an excuse to not give assistance.

ISLAMABAD: Hollywood star and UN goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie urged people on Wednesday to put aside corruption fears and donate cash, as she ended a tour of areas devastated by the floods.

“I don’t want some people to use it [corruption] as an excuse not to give assistance,” Jolie told reporters at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Islamabad office. “I have seen what they have done in the field. I have physically seen people assisted, so if you are nervous about giving money directly in one way, there are other ways to do it,” she said. Later, in a meeting with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, she said that she was deeply moved by the devastation caused by floods but hoped that the courage with which the millions of Pakistanis were facing the calamity would help them rise again.

“I am pleased to see that the Pakistani people are not losing hope and are confronting the challenges courageously,” she said, assuring full commitment to the political leadership.

According to a statement, Gilani called on Jolie and influential people alike to help the flood survivors in Pakistan by sensitising the international community. “Such people must move to create better awareness about the plight of millions of people and to mobilise support for the immediately required assistance for relief and rehabilitation,” he said.

Gilani thanked Angelina Jolie for her expression of solidarity and support with the people of Pakistan and said that her visit was important for drawing the world’s attention to the distress and despair of victims.

The prime minister told her about the massive devastation caused by the natural calamity and underlined the vulnerabilities of affected women and children in particular. He also emphasised the need for providing educational facilities to displaced children through make-shift schools.

Earlier, Jolie also visited flood-hit areas in the northwest. Speaking of the flood-hit villagers who she met during her visit, she said that she was particularly moved by an elderly couple in their 70s who had built their lives from nothing and seen it all washed away. “If I could put a face on this disaster it would be these wonderful, kind, funny and hard working people who lost everything,” she said.

Jolie said that she met women who had lost children, and children who asked her only for electricity, water and food, among the many “resilient” survivors. “They have been hit and lost so much that they kind of feel that they need to go with God and hope that something, anything, is going to make the situation better,” she said.

Asked if she would consider adopting a child from Pakistan, Jolie – a mother of six, including three adopted children from abroad – said that she would not consider it because of religious sensitivities. “There are different feelings about adoption in Muslim countries so I would never consider adjusting those rules,” she said, adding that there were other ways to sponsor a child. (With additional input from AFP)

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th, 2010.