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June 2006, London
Dear Friends
I hope all is well with you.
As you may be aware, in September 2001 the member states of the United Nations
unanimously adopted a resolution to establish the UN International Day of Peace,
a day of global ceasefire and non-violence, 21 September annually. The Peace One
Day film project inspired and documented the creation of the Day and since has
been committed to informing the global community of its existence, with a view
to manifesting an annual moment of global unity, as Peace Day is envisioned to
become. As part of this effort, this year, with your support, we hope to
instigate Peace Day activities in all 191 member states of the United Nations in
accordance with the resolution.
On my journey to establish the Day, I wanted to find out what young people would
think of a day of peace. Since 1999 I have spoken to over 30,000 young people in
every continent, recording 417 hours of their thoughts, and it was clear that
young people wanted to act on 21 September.
It is for this reason that I am writing to you today to ask for your help in
raising awareness of Peace Day across the world. I understand that your
organisation works closely with young people and, using the documentary Peace
One Day as a global education tool, I hope to support young people in becoming
the driving force behind the vision of a united world. We would be thrilled to
provide a free DVD of the award winning feature documentary to the Council for
Education in World Citizenship to inspire your members and show them how an
individual really can make a difference.
An observance of Peace Day can take many forms. Previous years have seen
commitments from every sector of society from governments to community groups to
individuals. These commitments have ranged in scope from public addresses or a
citywide minute of silence, to Peace Day street parties or a group discussion.
Simply saying sorry to a friend or relative can count. Our website
www.peaceoneday.org clearly lists the countries in which commitments have been
made, and those in which there are none as yet. By getting involved and making a
commitment in your country, or encouraging others to do so, the Council for
Education in World Citizenship could make a major contribution to the
furtherance of our goal to unite the world on Peace Day.
Whatever your commitment, either on, or in the lead up to, 21 September, please
let us know so that we can add your commitment to the website to inspire others
to get involved. The scale of your Peace Day activity is not important;
the commitment of individuals to act on the Day is everything. Any images that
you are able to send us of your activities on the day, be they still or moving
would be very much appreciated.
I do want to say a final word about the term 'non-violence', and why its
inclusion in UN GA Resolution 55/282 was so important. I realised early on that
a call simply for 'ceasefire' on 21 September was one that could easily be
dismissed as relevant only to those living in 'conflict zones'. The
inclusion of the term 'non-violence', coupled with an invitation to
'individuals' to observe the Day, means that 21 September becomes relevant to us
all, since every one of us has had some experience with one form of violence or
another, whether in our home, school or university or local community.
Thank you again for your support and we very much look forward to hearing from
you about any potential commitment you are able to make.
In peace
Jeremy Gilley
Founder, Peace One Day
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