Why the Global Truce 2012 campaign?
The Beginning
In 1999, filmmaker Jeremy Gilley 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 annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence on 21 September – Peace Day.
Peace One Day’s Campaigns and activities in Education, Music, Film, Sport, Dance and Online have proved that the day works. Throughout the years, millions of people have been active on Peace Day in every country of the world, and hundreds of organisations have carried out life-saving activities in areas of conflict. Notably, Jeremy and Peace One Day ambassador Jude Law travelled to Afghanistan to spearhead a campaign that, over the years, has resulted in 4.5 million children being vaccinated against polio in hitherto unreachable areas, as a result of Peace Day agreements by all parties in the region.
Reducing Violence
Peace One Day’s objective is to institutionalise Peace Day 21 September, making it a day that is self-sustaining, an annual day of global unity, a day of intercultural cooperation on a scale that humanity has never known. Inspired by a 70% recorded reduction in violent incidents on Peace Day in Afghanistan (source: United Nations Department of Safety and Security), and in order to build a strong foundation for 2012, Jeremy launched the Global Truce campaign that involved the creation of a series of Peace One Day coalitions, each with a lead partner: the NGO Coalition; the ‘Reducing Domestic Violence’ Coalition; the Student Coalition; and the Schools’ Network.
Global Truce 2012: Peace Day Results
Through detailed analysis conducted with the support of McKinsey & Company, the Peace One Day 2012 report found that, across the world, 280 million people in 198 countries were aware of Peace Day 2012 – 4% of the world’s population. The report further estimates that approximately 2% of those people (5.6 million) behaved more peacefully as a result. Peace One Day expects to double those figures for 2013, creating a solid foundation for informing 3 billion people about Peace Day by 2016.
The achievements of Peace One Day’s work in 2012 have not only set an important marker for Peace Day 2013 and future Peace Days, but have also reinforced the value of this unique annual day as a foundation for long-term sustainable peace.
Peace Day 2012 Summary Report
Peace One Day 2013: Who Will You Make Peace With?
In 2013, through initiatives and collaborations with various parties, Peace One Day will set out to encourage organisations and individuals to take specific actions to reduce violence around the theme:Who Will You Make Peace With?
Peace starts with individual action, and your actions inspire others to do the same. Peace Day 21 September 2013 is a Saturday; it really is an opportunity for all of us to become engaged in the peace process with our families, friends and communities.
By working together and making peace with each other we can improve the quality of our lives. Peace Day is not just about a reduction of violence in areas of conflict, it's also about reducing violence in our homes, communities and schools.
So who will you make peace with? Who will you bring together on Peace Day 21st of September 2013?
