Jolie urges people to avoid corruption ‘excuse’, donate to Pak flood relief work
By ANIThursday, September 9, 2010
ISLAMABAD - Angelina Jolie, the goodwill ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, has called on people to put aside corruption fears and contribute funds towards the ongoing flood relief operations in Pakistan.
“I don’t want some people to use it (corruption) as an excuse not to give assistance….”I have seen what they have done in the field. I’ve physically seen people assisted, so if you are nervous about giving money directly in one way, there are other ways to do it,” the Daily Times quoted Jolie, at the UN refugee agency’s Islamabad office, as saying.
The Hollywood actress, after visiting Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, declared, “I think the size of this disaster’s one that I have never seen the scale of.”
This was Jolie’s fourth visit to the country since she became a UNHCR envoy in 2001.
When asked if she would consider adopting a child from Pakistan, Jolie, who is known to adopt kids from different nations, said that she would not, because of religious sensitivities.
The death toll in the floods has reached over 1,700 people, whereas about eight million people are dependent on aid. Reportedly, many of them are going without food or water for days.The deluge has been stamped as one of Pakistan’s worst natural disasters causing heavy damage to the country’s infrastructure. (ANI)
