Angelina Jolie on Thursday visited a settlement for displaced Iraqis in northwest Baghdad in her role as a goodwill ambassador for UNHCR.

The actor met four families whose members said their children could not go to school and they could not afford to pay for medical treatment, the U.N. refugee agency said.

Jolie said during her one-day trip that there is progress in returning Iraqis to their homes after years of war, but more needs to be done, according to UNHCR.

"This is a moment where things seem to be improving on the ground, but Iraqis need a lot of support and help to rebuild their lives," the agency quoted Jolie as saying. It was the actor's third trip to Iraq.

UNHCR estimates that 1.6 million Iraqis were displaced within the country by sectarian violence, and that 300,000 have returned home amid improving security. It says hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees live in neighboring countries, mostly in Syria and Jordan.