History
In 1998 Jeremy Gilley conceived the idea of a single day when all countries vowed not to wage war; a worldwide ceasefire and day of non-violence. Later that year, Gilley established Peace One Day and began meeting students, peace negotiators, NGOs, government representatives, heads of state, and United Nations officials in order to initiate the Peace Day campaign. Those contacted included: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, Secretary General of the League of Arab States Amre Moussa, Peace Laureate and former Israeli President Shimon Peres, former Costa Rican President and Nobel Peace Laureate - Oscar Arias Sanchez, Nelson Mandela and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
The UN holds many international observances and had already declared the third Tuesday of September the International Day of Peace, Peace One Day aimed to resolve the confusion on which calendar day it fell and extend the International Day of Peace beyond its essential symbolism, urging for a more robust resolution. On 7 September 2001, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution, sponsored by the UK and Costa Rica, formally establishing the UN International Day of Peace an annual Peace Day of global ceasefire and non-violence on a fixed calendar date the 21st September. This process was recorded by Gilley who consequently created the documentary film "Peace One Day".
The former UK ambassador to the United Nations, Jeremy Greenstock, credited Peace One Day's campaign with playing a central role in the new resolutions processes and commented that “the need for such an enhanced approach was originally brought to our attention by a United Kingdom-based non-governmental organization, Peace One Day”.
Read more about this topic: Peace One Day
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