Former first lady Laura Bush and award winning actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie spoke to PEOPLE on the plight of the Afghans as the Taliban have once again come back to power, after two decades. They want the world to pay heed to Afghan voices especially those of the women who had been repressed during the earlier rule of the Taliban. The Taliban had said that Afghan women would play a role in the administration but almost everyone is skeptical about their future.

Laura Bush, who is the honorary co-chair of the U.S. Afghan Women’s Council, told PEOPLE that the eyes of the world turned to Afghanistan and shed light on the horrors inflicted by the Taliban on its people, two decades ago. She added that the events that were currently unfolding were familiar to her and that her heart was heavy for the Afghan people, who had lost so much, especially Afghan women and girls.

She added that Afghanistan had resilient and vibrant people “like our country” (USA). She said that she and (former) President Bush stood by to lend the Afghans their support and assistance. She wanted everyone to be united in evacuating those who stood by America and those who worked bravely to make Afghanistan a free and open society for all its citizens. She said that “we must resolve to never look away” amid the unspeakable tragedy.

Angelina Jolie told PEOPLE that the world had changed since the last time the Taliban ruled Afghanistan and that there were new tools and technologies that connect people globally in ways that were never there before and that “we” (the world?) could be informed and track what was happening to human rights in Afghanistan, making it harder to hide abuses.

She added that “we” could support humanitarian organizations and ask the Afghans what they needed and provide it them and could also help them get their messages out (to the world).

Incidentally, Angelina Jolie, who is a private person, recently joined social media platform Instagram and shared a letter from an Afghan girl as her first post.

Image Credit Wiki