Although Hollywood is currently in the midst of its annual movie award season, on Sunday (Jan 25th) Angelina Jolie has decided to trade the glamorous red carpet for a visit to a Kurdish refugee camp in Dohuk, northern Iraq.

Angelina Jolie
Jolie visited a refugee camp in northern Iraq over the weekend

Since the 39-year-old actress is a special envoy of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, she travelled to meet some of the tens of thousands of families who have had no choice but to flee their countries after they were invaded by the Islamic State.

After greeting a large crowd with a smile and a handshake with some of the refugees, Jolie gave a passionate and meaningful speech, targeting world leaders to provide more aid and help resolve the fighting in Syria and Iraq.

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"Too many innocent people are paying the price of the conflict in Syria and spread of extremism. The international community has to step up and do more," the Oscar winner said (via The Daily Mail). "It is not enough to defend our values at home. We have to defend them here, in the camps and in the informal settlements across the Middle East, and in the ruined towns of Iraq and Syria. We are being tested here, as an international community, and so far - for all the immense efforts and good intentions - we are failing."

As Jolie is a mother of six, whom she shares with her husband Brad Pitt, a lot of the issues the refugees face have affected her deeply.

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"I have met mothers whose children have been kidnapped by ISIL," she concluded. "As a parent, I couldn't imagine a greater horror. They are overwhelmed by thoughts of what is happening to their children. Nothing can prepare you for the horrific stories of these survivors of kidnap, abuse and exploitation and to see how they cannot all get the urgent help they need and deserve."