Monday, 26 May 2008

Jolie heads 2007 humanitarian poll

Angelina Jolie has topped a Reuters poll of the best celebrity humanitarians of 2007.
The poll of 606 people by humanitarian web site Reuters AlertNet put the 32-year-old star ahead of U2 singer Bono, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
Jolie works as a UN goodwill ambassador and has tried to raise awareness of the problems facing Africa.
Peter Walker, Director of the Feinstein International Famine Center at Tufts University in the US, said: "Someone like Angelina Jolie comes across as having more integrity than some celebrities and a greater sense that she doesn't just do this for the publicity."
Commenting on Jolie's work for UNHCR, UNHCR spokesman Peter Kessler said: "She does this in a very low-key way. She goes out to see for herself, to get up close and very personal. She doesn't travel with film crews, and I think that is real testimony to her dedication to the cause."
While Bono ranked second behind Jolie, he also had enough negative votes to feature in the top five least-liked humanitarians - along with Bob Geldof.