Angelina Jolie had a message for the world as it reckons with the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The Oscar-winning actress and activist spoke with Time editor in chief Edward Felsenthal during the Time 100: Finding Hope virtual summit on Thursday about how the pandemic is affecting the world’s children, her work with refugees and how to band together in order to get through it all.
During her powerful segment, Jolie described how she learned about hope from her years as a special envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
“I spend so many years working with refugees around the world,” she said. “Honestly, of course it’s upsetting, but they’ve also taught me so much about resilience, about family, about what life is truly about. I’ve seen people overcome unsurmountable odds with so much grace and love. I believe in humanity, I have hope, I really think we can afford not to have hope. As long as people are aware of how to help and what to do, they will.”
Working from her home, along with her six children doing homeschool, Jolie has stayed active throughout the pandemic with several causes.
One of her major focuses has been helping kids, who may not be as susceptible to the virus but are left vulnerable through the side-effects of the pandemic. Jolie has written essays for Time and donated money to help with food insecurity, as well as shine a light on kids who find themselves stuck in homes that may not be safe.
“Isolating a victim from family and friends is a well-known tactic of control by abusers, meaning that the social distancing that is necessary to stop COVID-19 is one that will inadvertently fuel a direct rise in trauma and suffering for vulnerable children,” Jolie wrote.
Jolie urged people to “make a point of calling family or friends, particularly where we might have concerns that someone is vulnerable.”
“It is often said that it takes a village to raise a child,” Jolie wrote. “It will take an effort by the whole of our country to give children the protection and care they deserve.
WATCH: Angelina Jolie Travels to Jordan with Daughters Shiloh and Zahara to Meet with Syrian Refugees
In March, Jolie donated $1 million to No Kid Hungry, an organization distributing meals to children who relied on school lunches.
“As of this week, over a billion children are out of school worldwide because of closures linked to coronavirus,” Jolie said in a statement. “Many children depend on the care and nutrition they receive during school hours, including nearly 22 million children in America who rely on food support. No Kid Hungry is making resolute efforts to reach as many of those children as possible.”
Parents and caregivers seeking meals for children can text the word “FOOD” (or “COMIDA”) to 877-877 to find emergency food distribution sites in their neighborhoods in select states, with more joining on a rolling basis.
Jolie also made a donation to the UN Refugee Agency and sent support to the schools she funds in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Kenya and Namibia to help ensure they can continue teaching and learning through the pandemic.
She currently funds 10 schools in Cambodia through the Maddox Jolie Pitt Foundation, set up in the name of her oldest son who she adopted in the Asian country. She also gives to the Angelina Jolie school for girls in Kenya and two other schools for girls in Afghanistan.
On a worldwide scale, Jolie is working with UNESCO on the establishment of a Global Education Coalition to help children access distance learning during the period of school closures.
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