Angelina Jolie appeared before the United Nations Security Council on Monday, urging the body to ramp up the fight against rape in war.
The actress, who serves as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, declared, ”Hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of women, children and men have been raped in conflicts in our lifetimes.”
Jolie noted that the Security Council had to take a stronger stand on the issue.
“You set the bar,” she said. “If the… council sets rape and sexual violence in conflict as a priority it will become one and progress will be made. If you do not, this horror will continue.”
Jolie urged the diplomatic leaders, “Meet your commitments, debate this issue in your parliaments, mobilize people in your countries, and build it into all your foreign policy efforts. Together, you can turn the tide of global opinion, shatter impunity and finally put an end to this abhorrence.”
Shortly after Jolie addressed the gathering, the Council adopted a resolution demanding the complete and immediate cessation of sexual violence in armed conflicts.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon honored Jolie’s participation in the cause, calling on officials to “be part of a global coalition of champions determined to break this evil.”
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