Peace One Day

Jeremy Gilley is an actor turned filmmaker, who in the late 1990’s became preoccupied with questions about the fundamental nature of humanity and the issue of peace. He decided to explore these through the medium of film, and specifically, to create a documentary following his campaign to establish an annual day of ceasefire and non-violence. In 1999, Jeremy founded Peace One Day, a non-profit organisation, and in 2001 Peace One Day’s efforts were rewarded when the member states of the United Nations unanimously adopted the first ever day of global ceasefire and non-violence on 21 September annually – Peace Day.

In 2007 according to the UN, over 100 million people were active on Peace Day, in 192 countries. There were life-saving initiatives in 14 countries and over 80 activities in Afghanistan alone where 1.4 million children were vaccinated against polio. Peace Day 2008 saw the polio vaccination figure in Afghanistan rise by a further 1.8 million children, following an agreement by all parties to suspend conflict in the region to respect the Day.

Peace One Day is working to manifest an annual day of global unity; a day of intercultural cooperation on a scale that humanity has never known. The next stepping stone on this journey is to reach 3 billion people with the message of Peace Day by 2012; this will be achieved by working in the following areas:

FOOTBALL: Our 'One Day One Goal' initiative, supported by PUMA, aims to encourage football matches all over the world on Peace Day. Each team is created with a mix of players from different cultures or communities. One Day One Goal matches celebrate cooperation, unity and the power of football to bring people together on Peace Day. On Peace Day 2008 there were 400 One Day One Goal football matches played in 180 countries. POD’s aim for 2009 is to see matches played in all 192 member states of the United Nations.

DOCUMENTARY FILMS: The first Peace One Day documentary has become a key tool in raising awareness of Peace Day, having played all over the world to millions of people. Jeremy’s second film, The Day After Peace has so far been licensed for broadcast in 49 countries, with screenings so far on BBC4 and BBC2 in the UK. Screenings at festivals and other special screenings are scheduled to take place in 44 countries worldwide. The film charts Gilley’s extraordinary 10-year journey to establish Peace Day on 21 September, and shows how the Day is being used around the world to save lives. The film’s breathtaking conclusion finds Jeremy joined by Jude Law in Afghanistan, attempting to spearhead a massive vaccination against polio on Peace Day. The Day After Peace is produced in association with the BBC and Passion Pictures. Jeremy’s third film, now in production, focuses on the process of institutionalising Peace Day and the continuation of life-saving activities around the world on the Day.

ANNUAL CELEBRATION: POD’s 2008 flagship event took place at London’s Royal Albert Hall on Sunday 21 September. The actor Jude Law introduced a gala screening of Jeremy Gilley’s new film The Day After Peace. There were also live performances by Bryan Adams, Peter Gabriel, Annie Lennox and John Legend, with a surprise appearance from Lenny Kravitz. An international television and online broadcast of the 2008 concert is currently being distributed and to date has been licensed in 58 countries. For Peace Day 2009 there are three events planned: 19 September, Le Grand Rex, Paris; 20 September, Brixton Academy, London; 21 September, Washington, D.C.

EDUCATION: Peace One Day Education aims to advance active learning in the areas of conflict resolution, global citizenship, human rights and the link between sustainability and peace, using Peace Day 21 September as a focus. Our goal is to provide resource materials to every school on earth, inspiring a generation to become the driving force behind the vision of a united and sustainable world. In 2009 Peace One Day will launch the 3rd Edition of the Peace One Day Citizenship Resource, now containing 19 student-centred lesson plans linked to The Day After Peace film. Following on from our success in 2007, where a 2nd Edition was provided free to 92% of UK secondary schools, in 2009, our sponsors DHL are set to deliver a free copy of The Day After Peace School Edition DVD to every secondary school in the UK. The Day After Peace School Edition DVD will contain two classroom-ready versions of the film as well as the original feature-length film (with subtitles in the six official languages of the United Nations – Arabic, Chinese [Mandarin], English, French, Russian and Spanish). In 2009 Peace One Day will also launch the first ever Peace One Day U.S.A. Education Resource, in association with Scholastic and underwritten by Ben & Jerry’s. The Resource, recommended for grades 6 – 12, has been created with special reference to the US Education System. Phase 1 of the US roll-out will see a free School Edition DVD delivered to over 3,000 schools in the six New England states, with nationwide delivery to over 80,000 schools in 2010. For the first time, both resources will be available to download for free from the Peace One Day website.

GLOBAL ASK: Each year, Peace One Day communicates with a wide spectrum of the global community, inspiring action on Peace Day from individuals through to governments. This broad bedrock of support provides a solid platform from which to develop life-saving activities specifically focused on and around Peace Day.

PORTAL FOR PEACE: Our vision for our website www.peaceoneday.org is that it becomes a key "peace portal", inspiring and holding content from around the world, related to peace, non-violence and sustainability. The new site, arriving summer 2009, is being built to accommodate an entirely new scale of involvement on Peace Day, as we reach out to global partners from all sectors of society.

“If we are to move from a culture of war to a culture of peace then we will have to unite around the most fundamental issue that humanity faces – the protection of each other and our environment. 21 September is the starting point. Individuals can make a difference. By working together there will be Peace One Day.”
-Jeremy Gilley, Founder, Peace One Day