It is completely incongruous for UN Goodwill Ambassadors to address the UN Security Council on matters of substance relating to some of the worst and most intractable conflicts in the world.
This ridiculous scheme was thought up by some of the former heads of the UN Department for Public Information, because they argued this is the only way to get media+ world attention — and enthusiastically embraced approved by some former UN Secretaries General [as well as by the current UNSG] and UN heads of agencies…who prioritize fund-raising over political [and therefore controversial] work.
In a continuation of this recent incongruous tradition, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie has just been given the floor to address the UNSC on Syria, and used the word “We” when speaking of the UN failures there…
AFP reported that “Actress Angelina Jolie on Friday criticized the UN Security Council’s failure to end the war in Syria, as she appealed for urgent help for the growing ranks of Syrian refugees…’The purpose of the UN is to prevent and end conflict, to bring countries together, to find diplomatic solutions and to save lives’, said Jolie, dressed in a white blazer. ‘We failed to do this in Syria’…The crisis is made worse by division and indecision within the international community preventing the Security Council from fulfilling its responsibilities…If we cannot end the conflict, we have an inescapable moral duty to help refugees and provide legal avenues to safety”, Jolie said. The actress spoke of a “sea of excluded humanity”, and added: “The crisis in Syria illustrates that our inability to find diplomatic solutions causes mass displacement, traps millions of people in exile, statelessness and displacement”…
This APF report was published by Lebanon’s The Daily Star, here.
“We” = meaning, the UN Security Council + Angelina Jolie?
It takes Angelina Jolie to remind the 15 members of the UN Security Council what is the purpose of the UN?
Or, this is a way to explain the UNSC to Angelina Jolie’s fan base?
We don’t even need to ask — her speech was carefully vetted before she presented it to the UNSC today, so the formulation was approved at the highest levels.
So, her use of the word “We” was thought a way to soften what looks like courageous but polite criticism? Or maybe the wording was also calculated to flatter the Council members? Or, to inject a little fun and flattery into their otherwise dull agenda?
Because otherwise, nobody would pay attention…
The Daily Mail has a fuller report and more pictures including one of Angelina Jolie winking, and another of Angelina Jolie listening to the simultaneous translation with a UN earphone, posted here >a href=”http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3054094/Angelina-Jolie-rip-world-powers-Syrias-refugee-crisis.html”>here.
The Daily Mail had some important details, including:
– a comment from Syria’s Ambassador to the UN, Bashar Al-Jaafari: “She’s beautiful”
– “The 39-year-old actress and director spoke at the United Nations in New York on Friday dressed in a white blazer, matching skirt and delicate jewelry. She had removed her $250,000 diamond engagement ring to make her speech”.
– “Earlier this month, a business associate of Jolie and husband Brad Pitt told The Daily Express that the couple want to adopt a little Syrian girl”.
The Daily Mail reports additional excerpts from Angelina Jolie’s speech:
‘We cannot look at Syria, and the evil that has arisen from the ashes of indecision, and think this is not the lowest point in the world’s inability to protect and defend the innocent’, Jolie said. ‘It is sickening to see thousands of refugees drowning on the doorstep of the world’s wealthiest continent. No one risks the lives of their children in this way except out of utter desperation’…’We are standing by, in Syria’ she said, adding that the council’s powers lie unused because its members cannot agree on how to address the conflict”…