Women and girls were the focus on World Autism Awareness Day, observed on 2 April: a segment of the global population that faces “multiple challenges,” as UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated in his message for the Day.

Speaking at the commemorative event in the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Chamber, Alison Smale, head of Global Communications at the UN, outlined some of the many forms of discrimination women and girls with autism face.

“They are denied equal access to education and employment, to healthcare services, justice and equal recognition before the law, and they are far too often denied the freedom to make their own choices,” she stated.

The UN Headquarters event included breakout panels exploring issues that have an impact on women and girls with autism such as gender disparity in diagnosis, racism and sexism, as well as the heightened risks they face of violence, sexual exploitation and abuse.

American actress Dakota Fanning, star of the autism-themed film ‘Please Stand By,’ was among the panellists, who came from as far away as South Africa, Iceland and Poland.

Julia Bascom, Executive Director of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, provided an overview of the state of women and girls with autism.

She said they are diagnosed much less frequently than men and boys, and often much later in life: sometimes only after bringing in their own children for assessment.

“The diagnostic criteria for autism are normed off of four-year-old white boys in upper middle-class families in the United States,” she reported. “So, anyone who doesn’t fit in that box has an uphill climb.”

With one child in 160 on the autism spectrum, Ambassador Mahmoud Saikhal of Afghanistan stressed the need to fight stigma and promote inclusion, but also to highlight the contributions made by people with autism.

He gave examples such as Eileen Parker, inventor of a weighted blanket that helps some people with autism to feel calm enough to fall asleep, and Dr. Temple Grandin, a leading advocate.

“Events like this help to give a voice to those who may otherwise be left behind,” he said, reading a statement on behalf of Miroslav Lajčák, the President of the UN General Assembly.

Ensuring that no one is left behind is the promise of the Sustainable Development Agenda for a more just and equitable future that world leaders have committed to bring about by 2030.

Ms. Smale, the UN official, called for giving women and girls with autism a direct role in policy making on matters that concern them.

“To achieve the inclusive society to which we aspire, we must ensure that the fundamental rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted by Member States at the UN in 2006, are known and respected and are recognized as applying to everyone, including women and girls with autism,” she said.

Though based in the US, the non-profit Autistic Self Advocacy Network – Ms. Bascom’s organization – works to empower people with autism globally, under the rallying call of ‘Nothing About Us, Without Us!’

“As a society we still see autism as a negative, sad, scary thing. But for autistic women, an autism diagnosis can be a tool for empowerment,” she told the UN audience.

“It’s an answer, it’s an explanation, it’s a way out of cycles of self-blame and guilt. It’s a passport to an entire community. And if we’re lucky, it’s a connection to the understanding, support and services we need in order to truly thrive –sometimes for the first time in our lives.”

This article originally appeared on Look to the Stars.

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But, while their songs serve as soundtracks to the lives of millions of people worldwide, their impact on mankind is measured in greater ways than records sold. This makes for a plethora of good celebrity news.

Led by frontman Chris Martin, Coldplay (which also consists of Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland and Will Champion) is one of the most active charitable and philanthropic musical groups touring today.

Let’s take a look at the ways in which Martin and his bandmates give back to others.

Percentage of Sales

Coldplay’s charitable deeds go all the way back to their debut album, Parachutes. The group donated 10% of the profits generated from the album directly to charity. It’s a trend they’ve continued with subsequent releases.

Oxfam – Make Trade Fair

Martin and the band also support Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair campaign, which promotes fair trade amongst governments, corporations, and institutions to eradicate extreme poverty throughout the world.

“Smaller, poor countries are being totally ripped off by the trade rules that the bigger, Western countries impose,” Martin wrote in an op-ed piece for The Guardian in 2003.

“As consumers, we need to think about what we’re buying, and whether the farmers who grow it are getting a fair deal. If you pay a few pence more for Fair Trade coffee in the supermarket, the farmers themselves get almost three times more for their crop, which makes an incredible difference.”

Martin quietly supports the organization while onstage by scribbling “Make Trade Fair” or some variation on the back of his hand. His efforts are supported by his bandmates.

“Anyone in our position has a certain responsibility,” Guy Berryman said in the book, Viva Coldplay!: A Biography.

“Odd though it may seem to us, a lot of people read what we’re saying, see us on TV, buy our record and read the sleeves and that can be a great platform.

“You can make people aware of issues. It isn’t very much effort for us at all, but if it can help people, then we want to do it,” he added.

Oxfam – GROW

In 2012, Coldplay teamed with Oxfam for its GROW campaign, which focuses on fighting injustices in society (inequality, lack of support for small-scale farmers) that lead to world hunger.

The band dedicated their Mylo Xyloto world tour to helping the cause (reaching over 100 million people) and, in 2013, they donated an acoustic version of their song, ‘In My Place,’ for an Oxfam campaign video.

Global Citizen Festival

In 2015, Martin was tabbed to be the creative director and curator for the Global Citizen Festival for the next 15 years.

Global Citizen is an organization, started in 2012, which aims to end extreme poverty by 2030. The annual musical festival takes place in New York in September.

Throughout its five-year run, it has featured some of the biggest acts in entertainment (including Rihanna, Beyoncé, Jay Z, Foo Fighters, and of course Coldplay) as well as appearances from celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, Hugh Jackman, Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, Vice President Joe Biden and First Lady Michelle Obama.

Coldplay and Foals to appear on #Glastonbury Oxfam live album dedicated to Jo Cox https://t.co/u1ofITZRHs #StandAsOne

— Oxfam (@oxfamgb) June 20, 2016

Fans get free tickets by contributing to charity acts on the organization’s website. In 2015, the GCF aligned itself with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, which are 17 tasks that aim to help achieve a poverty-free world.

“It’s not an easy number,” Martin told Billboard in 2015. “But on another level, it’s remarkable that with 193 countries and 7 billion people, we only have to do these 17 things and life gets better for a lot of people. And as long as you ask Beyoncé to say one of them and [former UN secretary-general] Kofi Annan to say another one, it becomes something that kids talk about.”

On November 19, 2016, India will host its first free Global Citizen Festival featuring performances from Martin and Coldplay, Jay Z, and Demi Lovato.

“With over half a million young Indians taking over 1.8 million actions in support of our campaigns, earning their free tickets for the inaugural Global Citizen India Festival, it is exhilarating to see that the youth of India won’t wait for change,” Global Citizen CEO, Hugh Evans, said in a statement.

HIV/AIDS & Children

The members of Coldplay are always front and center when it comes to issues pertaining to children and HIV/AIDS.

Recently, the band took part in a charity concert at Kensington Palace. Proceeds from the event went toward fighting the horrible disease and helping the young people stricken by it in Africa.

As usual, the lads infused a little spontaneity into their performance, this time bringing Prince Harry on stage to help them with a rendition of “Up & Up.”

The band also donates and time and money to the organizations like Keep A Child Alive, the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and War Child, with whom they teamed for a fundraising concert in February 2016.

“We’re delighted to play this special show for War Child to raise funds for their crucial work with children dealing with the aftermath of conflict,” the band said in a press release.

Cancer & Disaster Relief

Coldplay advocates for organizations that fight cancer, including Stand Up to Cancer where they put on a memorable set at a concert in France in 2012.

And when disaster strikes, they’re often one of the first groups to step up to the plate and help as they did following the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

In that instance, the group helped raise money for victims by participating at the Hope for Haiti Now telethon where they performed a modified version of their song, “A Message.”

Stay dialed to Good Celebrity for the 411 on all things positive celebrity news!

Photo Credit: Facebook

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The school made the announcement on Monday (May 30), revealing that this course will begin next year as the first of its kind. It will be organized by the LSE Center for Women, Peace and Security, which was created by the Hollywood actress and Britain’s former foreign secretary William Hague last year.

Jolie also acts as a special envoy for the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) and released a statement about her new venture saying, “It is vital that we broaden the discussion on how to advance women’s rights and end impunity for crimes that disproportionately affect women, such as sexual violence in conflict.”

“I am looking forward to teaching and to learning from the students, as well as to sharing my own experiences of working alongside governments and the United Nations.”

According to Reuters, Jolie first teamed up with Hague during her directorial debut in 2011 when she worked on “In the Land of Blood and Honey.” The film explores the Bosnian war in the early nineties where an estimated 20,000 were allegedly raped.

Jolie and Hague co-founded the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative in 2012 to fight these crimes and bring criminals to justice. They also held a global conference in London focusing on women’s rights in 2014.

To learn more about Angelina’s charitable acts, check out our post covering her humanitarianism over the span of her successful career.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

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Angie works closely with the United Nations along with 27 other organizations that assist people around the globe.

Our team hears about her incredible work in the celebrity news circuit on a regular basis, so we decided to dive deep into her charitable history and find out exactly how she is using her celebrity for good. We went all the way back to 2001 to discover just when and how Angie started giving back. Here is what we found.

UNHCR

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is the United Nations organization aimed help refugees around the world, and it’s the organization that Angelina invests the largest amount of her time.

Angelina linked up with UNHCR after filming Laura Croft: Tomb Raider in Cambodia in 2001. Over that past 14 years, she traveled to more than 30 countries as a Goodwill Ambassador, meeting with refugees and displaced people.

The UNHCR allowed Jolie to help people from all walks of life. She took on missions by visiting countries including Sierra Leone, Jordan, Thailand, Haiti, Kenya, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Jordan, Egypt, Costa Rica, Chad, Syria and Iraq.

Click To See Which Celebrity Stopped By Our Headquarters Recently? 

In 2003, Jolie received the the first-ever Citizen of the World Award from the United Nations Correspondents Association for her contributions to helping refugees. Two years later, Angelina Jolie received the Global Humanitarian Award from the United Nations Association of the USA for her work with UNHCR.

If the awards weren’t enough – she also received Cambodian citizenship from Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni for her conservation work in the country.

Her continued involvement naturally led to work as a political activist. Jolie started lobbying humanitarian interests in the U.S. Capitol. Over the course of the past 15 years, she’s met with members of Congress at least 20 times.

The UNHCR didn’t take Angie’s amazing work for granted and in 2010, the United Nations promoted Angie from Goodwill Ambassador to a diplomat. She is now a special envoy and represents the UN Refugee Agency to other diplomats, governments, and officials around the world.

Three years ago, Angie used her diplomatic status to step up her political activism and testified at the Security Council. She spoke out against sexual violence in armed conflict.

“I understand there are many things that it is difficult for the Security Council to agree on, but sexual violence in conflict should not be one of them.That it is a crime to rape young children is not something anyone in this room would not be able to agree on,” Jolie said.

MORE ANGELINA JOLIE CHARITY WORK

“That young Syrian rape victim is here because you represent her. That five-year-old child in the Congo must count because you represent her. And in her eyes, if her attacker gets away with his crimes, it is because you have allowed it. You set the bar. If the United Nations Security Council sets rape and sexual violence in conflict as a priority, it will become one and progress will be made. If you do not, this horror will continue.”

Last year, she continued supporting refugees’ rights and women’s rights on World Refugee Day.

During her trip to the Midyat Refugee Camp in Mardin in Turkey, she released a statement, which read, “We are here for a simple reason: This region is at the epicenter of a global crisis. Nearly 60 million people are displaced from their homes. That is one in every 122 people on our planet. Our world has never been richer or healthier or more advanced. Yet never before have so many people been dispossessed and stripped of their basic human rights. We should call this what it is: not just a ‘refugee crisis,’ but a crisis of global security and governance, that is manifesting itself in the worst refugee crisis ever recorded – and a time of mass displacement.”

READ: The Complete Guide to Brad Pitt’s Global Influence through Charity

She went on to discuss the media’s coverage of refugees makes it look like them dying at sea is the new normal, and it’s not. Angie calls for a change in not only support but also legislation so refugees can work and make new lives in their sought after country. Read her full statement here.

Angelina Jolie’s Children Get Involved with Charity

Earlier this year, Angelina and Brad’s oldest daughters followed in their parents’ footsteps by helping an underprivileged family in Cambodia. This family has 13 children and they all live together in a tin shack.

Shiloh and Zahara spent time in South East Asia with their mother and were approached by Leida Shoun while in the village. After seeing the state of Shoun and her 12 siblings, Shiloh and Zahara wanted to help. They began by donating $200 worth of new clothes, which is very valuable in the poverty-stricken district of Mundal Bai. The Jolie-Pitts also donated two new bikes to the family.

During an interview with Vogue, Angelina said that she knew Shiloh had a desire to give back when the pair was together in Lebanon.

“When she was sitting on the floor with her UN cap writing her notes as she was talking to someone, I was flashing on myself 15 years ago and thinking, I know that moment,” Jolie said.

Jolie Pitt Foundation

Despite their tumultuous split, which took over the latest celebrity news headlines this year, Brad Pitt and Angie established the Jolie Pitt Foundation in 2006 prior to their nuptials to further their philanthropy around the globe. To kick off the foundation of their organization, the now separated couple gave $1 million donations to Doctors Without Borders and Global Action for Children.

The foundation provided Pitt and Jolie with an opportunity to help charities around the world.

It came into play during Jolie’s first pregnancy with Shiloh Nouvel. Shiloh was born on May 27, 2006. Angelina gave People Magazine exclusive rights to publish the first picture of her with a baby bump in exchange for a $500,000 donation to the charities she and Brad support.

Complimentary Charity Work

Angelina donates her time to help those in need around the globe, but that’s not all – she also donates plenty of funds to make a greater impact. According to tax records, when Brad and Angie were still attached, they reportedly donated more than $8 million to charity in 2006.

As mentioned, Jolie is involved with more than 29 organizations that help people around the all around the world. In addition to the UNHCR and the Jolie Pitt Foundation, she works with the Afghanistan Relief Organization, Care to Learn and Women in the World Foundation, just to name a few.

Council on Foreign Relations

In 2007, Angelina became a member of the CFR. Since joining, she funded many CFR special reports, including the “Intervention to Stop Mass Atrocities and Genocide.”

After several visits to Haiti, Jolie teamed up with the CFR and established the Jolie Legal Fellows Program in 2010 to enhance government capacity around the legal system. Jolie’s partnership with CFR helps amateur attorneys get involved with the existing structures in Haiti to support the government’s child protection efforts.

Afghanistan Relief Organization

The Afghanistan Relief Organization started in the United States in 1998. Reliant on volunteer efforts, the ARO distributes food, medicine, hygiene supplies and relief supplies to Afghan citizens. It also provides free education to more than 800 children and adult students.

Angelina teamed up with fellow celebrities in 2007 for ARO’s Afghan Kites Project. Jolie signed a kite to auction off to raise funds for the organization.

Alliance For The Lost Boys Of Sudan

Angelina is the primary supporter for the Alliance for the Lost Boys, which provides medical and dental coverage for the Lost Boys of Sudan and their families. They also provide education and school supplies.

Cancer Schmancer Movement

Fran Drescher is the founder of the Cancer Schmancer Movement and she strives to diagnose all women’s cancer in stage one when they are most curable.

Jolie is a big supporter of Fran’s work and was inspired by the “Nanny” actress’ message two years ago.

Jolie’s mother, Marcheline Bertrand, lost her battle to ovarian cancer in 2007 at the age of 56. To prevent any further risk of cancer for herself, Angelina underwent a double mastectomy in 2013.

In an op-ed for the New York Times, she explained that the mutation in the BRCA1 gene gave her an estimated 87% risk of breast cancer and 50% risk of ovarian cancer.

Making for some breaking celebrity news, Jolie had her ovaries removed to prevent any further risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer. This also created a push for all women to focus on their personal health and talk to their doctors about options to prevent risks.

Along with inspiration from her mother and a long history of supporting women’s rights, Angelina said that the preventative care was also inspired by her six children. She told the media that she wanted to take the burden off her children and not let them worry about her developing cancer if it could be prevented.

Awards

To complete our exploration into Angelina’s charity work – let’s take a look at her honors. Her incredible philanthropic efforts are recognized with many recognitions and awards.

As mentioned above, she was the first recipient of the Citizen of the World Award in 2003, honored by the United Nations Correspondents Association. Two years later, Jolie received the Global Humanitarian Award from the United Nations Association of the USA and the Business Council for the United Nations for her work with refugees.

In 2007, Jolie received recognition from the International Rescue Committee with its Freedom Award. She was honored alongside High Commissioner Guterres for the partnership to assist refugees and promote human freedom.

In October 2011, the UNHCR honored Angelina for her ten years of service to the humanitarian cause as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador.

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