Washington DC: Angelina Jolie says she is a proud American but the actor feels a sense of responsibility towards people from different parts of the world.
The 42-year-old actor, who was honoured with a humanitarian award from the UN Correspondents Association Awards, said as a “citizen of the world” she empathises people who are struggling for their rights, W magazine reported.
“… Like everyone here, I love my own country. I am proud to be American. But I also feel a sense of responsibility towards all other people all around the world fighting for the freedoms that we are very lucky to have secured years ago.
“And for me, this is what it means to be a citizen of the world: seeing yourself in the struggles of others,” Jolie said in her acceptance speech.
The actor, a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees special envoy, said considering oneself a global citizen does not make one any less patriotic.
“It is being suggested by some people today that to consider yourself a global citizen is to care less for your country, to be insufficiently patriotic.
“We’ve been led to believe that international institutions and treaties, commitments on human rights built over generations, are a straitjacket upon the interests of individual countries. As if the only way for any nation to rise is at the expense of others,” she said.
PTI