angelina jolieIf there was ever any question as to why the U.N. appointed Angelina Jolie as special envoy, her work on behalf of the Syrian refugees should serve as a final answer. Not only does the actress clearly have a deep and genuine concern for the thousands displaced by Syria's civil war, she's quite possibly the only person capable of getting the horrible situation the worldwide attention it needs.

Jolie seemed to be on the verge of tears as she spoke about her time spent at a Zaatari camp in Jordan, which is currently hosting about 30,000 Syrian refugees, and with good reason. I can only imagine the stories she was told, the horrifying first-hand accounts of bloodshed and destruction -- the worst, of course, coming from the many orphaned and wounded children.

"As a mother, certainly, the amount of innocent children who are reported dead, the amount of innocent children I've met here who are wounded and unaccompanied, with their parents being killed and now they're on their own ... it's impossible to imagine any mother standing by and not stepping up and doing something to prevent this," said Jolie.

Also particularly heartbreaking to Jolie, she said, was that the refugees she spoke with couldn't understand why "no one is able to find a solution for them." And things just keeps getting worse: According to the refugee chief, the "camp needs massive international funding" and its conditions are "still not acceptable."

Will the world step up and do something? I don't know, sadly. But at least Jolie has reminded us that we SHOULD do something.

Do you think the Syrian refugees will get the help they need?


Image via WashingtonPost.com