News
Thursday, September 09, 2010
Corruption fears must not hinder Pak flood aid: JolieISLAMABAD: Hollywood star Angelina Jolie urged people on Wednesday to put aside corruption fears and donate cash to help the 21 million flood-affected people in Pakistan, 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 UN refugee agency’s Islamabad office.
“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,” she said.
Jolie, clad in a grey dress and black head scarf, spoke after visiting Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“I think the size of this disaster’s one that I have never seen the scale of,” said Jolie.
On Tuesday Jolie, 35, a roving envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, spent time talking to flood victims in KP.
Speaking of the flood-hit villagers she had met during her travels, she said 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 those wonderful, kind, funny and hard working people who lost everything,” said Jolie.
It was Jolie’s fourth visit to Pakistan since she became a UNHCR goodwill ambassador in 2001.
Asked if she would consider adopting a child from Pakistan, Jolie said she would not consider it because of religious sensitivities. afp
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk