Angelina Jolie has penned a book to help children “fight back” against injustice.
Angelina Jolie
The 46-year-old actress has teamed up with Amnesty International and human rights lawyer Geraldine Van Bueren to write a book titled ‘Know Your Rights and Claim Them: A Guide for Youth’, which she hopes will help encourage young people to stand up for themselves in the face of injustice.
She said: "So many children are in harm's way across the world and we're simply not doing enough. These are their rights, decided years ago based on what would make them healthy, balanced, safe and stable adults."
Angelina also wants the tome to help governments remember their long-made promise to protect the health and happiness of children.
She added: "We spent a lot of time blocking those rights, so this book is to help the kids have a tool book to say, 'These are your rights, these are things you need to question to see how far you, depending on your country and circumstance, are from accessing those rights, what are your obstacles, others that came before you and fought, ways you can fight.’ So it's a handbook to fight back."
‘Know Your Rights and Claim Them’ outlines the rights that children were promised in the UN Convention, highlights the work of young activists like Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai, and teaches readers how to stand up for themselves.
And Angelina – who serves as Special Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees – has insisted she’s been shocked to learn how many children aren’t given the rights they’ve been promised.
Speaking to Reuters following the announcement of her book, she said: "That infuriated me and made me start to question what does that mean? So for each country, what is this idea of, you have the right to an education ... but then why is it so many children are out of school? Why is it the girls in Afghanistan are being harmed if they go?"
‘Know Your Rights and Claim Them: A Guide for Youth’ will be published on October 5.
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