Angelina Jolie Challenges Aid Critics  3/14/07

Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie has hit back at critics of her aid work, challenging them to experience global poverty first hand before they comment on her charitable actions.

The Mr and Mrs Smith star - who visited Africa last month (FEB07) to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Sudan - has toured some of the world's most deprived countries in her role as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador.

But she has regularly come under fire from parts of the media for using her celebrity status to highlight her charity work - a critique Jolie is particularly enraged with.

She says, "Because I do care about the opinion of the aid worker, I do care about the opinion of the refugee.

"I care less about the opinion of the person who's never been in the field but has an opinion about celebrity."