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Angelina Jolie in Baghdad

Briefing notes

Angelina Jolie in Baghdad

24 July 2009

Photos and other information on UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie's visit to Baghdad yesterday are now available on our new website: www.unhcr.org. Video will be available later this morning. We also sent you a press release last evening.

Ms. Jolie traveled to Iraq to draw attention to the plight of internally displaced people in the country as well as Iraqi refugees across the region. She visited four families that had been displaced from the district of Abu Ghraib and the western suburbs of the capital. She heard stories of hardship from families who could not get basic health services from the government and called for international support for the local administration.

Overall, she said, the picture on the ground was mixed and noted there are some changes, including some returns of displaced people - not a big number, but there is progress. Ms. Jolie was on her third visit to Iraq. She also stopped in Jordan on the way out of the country and thanked both Jordan and Syria, now playing host to hundreds of thousands of refugees from Iraq, for their generosity in providing assistance to Iraqi refugees.