This piece is a portrait drawing of a photograph taken of Angelina Jolie during her visit to Afghan refugees in 2008. Jolie is a personal inspiration to me. She holds an admirable track record of dedicated service to the UN and the cause for refugees, which led to her appointment as Special Envoy in April 2012. My degree has allowed me to understand and appreciate the impact that war and conflict in underdeveloped regions can have on the lives of individuals living in unstable conditions. I really admire the work that Jolie has done in focussing her efforts on mass population displacements caused by such conflicts. As a diplomat for the UN, she has consistently fought for the UN Security Council to appreciate that they have primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security, and in this respect they need to be doing more to prosecute the likes war criminals and rapists. She is truly inspirational, and stresses that refusal to act is simply not an option. I love how she has managed to use her platform as a well-known actress to portray the importance of understanding what is going on outside of our own borders. In the spirit of International Women’s Day, she has also emphasised the importance of equality for women, and went as far as saying that if the world accepted the principle that those affected by a problem should be charged with determining a solution, “then the majority of the world’s peace negotiators, foreign ministers and diplomats would be women”. Jolie inspires me to empower myself and join the fight for equality for all, in all regions of the world. Therefore, I have payed homage to her by drawing a portrait of her in her time as Special Envoy for the UN.