Angelina Jolie's child support

Oct 16, 2008, 9:55 GMT

10/04/2008 - Angelina Jolie - 46th New York Film Festival - "Changeling" Premiere - Inside Arrivals - Ziegfeld Theater at 141 West 54th Street - New York City, NY, USA © Janet Mayer / PR Photos

Angelina Jolie has joined an organisation to help immigrant children in the US.

The actress - who raises six children with partner Brad Pitt - is teaming up with the Microsoft Corporation to support Kids In Need of Defence (KIND), which aims to "provide legal representation for 100 per cent of unaccompanied children".

The scheme hopes to help children, of which there are approximately 2,100 a year in need of assistance, "in those areas of the country where the need is greatest" by 2010.

The organization will first assist young people in Los Angeles, Seattle and Houston but hope to eventually expand throughout the country.

America is one of the only Western nations that does not provide counsel for unaccompanied children in immigrant court, many of who arrive in the US unable to speak English because they are victims of trafficking, looking for family, or hoping to flee persecution or torture from their home nation.

Many cases are turned down because the child does not have a lawyer, but KIND aim to secure legal representation for them.

Angelina also works as a United Nations (UN) goodwill ambassador and has visited refugee camps around the world, receiving many awards for her humanitarian work, including the Citizen of the World Award from the UN and the Freedom Award, which was given by the International Rescue Committee.