Angelina Jolie Pitt Arrives in Myanmar for Four-Day Humanitarian Service Trip Following Cambodia Visit

Angelina Jolie Pitt is in the Asian country to help encourage efforts to build a peaceful future before their November elections

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Photo: Tom Stoddart/Getty

Angelina Jolie Pitt arrived in Myanmar on Wednesday, kicking off a four-day trip to learn more about the country’s situation in her capacity as both the co-founder of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, and as a U.N. Refugee Agency Special Envoy.

“I am looking forward to meeting with many people including women’s groups, civil society, displaced people and youth, to learn firsthand from them about their concerns and hopes for the future of their country,” Jolie Pitt, 40, said in a statement to PEOPLE.

The actress’ visit started with a welcome to parliament from Myanmar’s House Speaker Shwe Mann, and will include meetings with local advocates and groups working to promote both human rights and women’s rights, voter education, and election participation.

“With elections on the horizon in November, it is an important moment for people to exercise their democratic rights and help to address the fundamental issues critical to a peaceful future,” Jolie Pitt said.

The Southeast Asian country, formerly known as Burma, holds general elections on Nov. 8.

The star will meet the country’s president, Thein Sein, as well as government members, in an effort to learn more about challenges arising from the country’s lengthy history of conflict.

Jolie Pitt’s trip came after a personal invitation from Myanmar politician Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who serves as chairperson for the National League for Democracy in Burma. The actress first met Daw Suu at the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict in June 2014.

While it’s the first time Jolie Pitt has visited Myanmar, she has previously met with Burmese refugees who were living in Thailand during several trips to the country.

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Earlier in the week, the actress was in Cambodia to check in on her two charitable organizations, the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation and the Maddox Chivan Children’s Center. Both groups are named after her adopted son Maddox, who was born in the country.

The actress also began pre-production on her next directorial effort, an adaptation of former child soldier Loung Ung’s book First They Killed My Father, which will be filmed on location in Cambodia. The movie is currently scheduled to shoot from November to January.

“I hope to be led by the people of Cambodia to tell their story in the best way possible,” the star told a local paper. “So I look forward to people coming forward to help me further understand what they feel it is important to tell.”

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