Dear students and teachers
It gives me great pleasure to write to you today to offer you a free copy of the DVD of the feature documentary Peace One Day.
As you may know, the Peace One Day film project documented and inspired the unanimous adoption by United Nations member states of the first ever day of global ceasefire and non-violence, 21 September annually. Since the Day's creation Peace One Day has been committed to informing the global community of the Day's 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, Peace One Day will instigate Peace Day activities in all 191 member states of the United Nations.
On my journey to establish the Day, I wanted to speak to young people. I wanted to find out what they would think of a day of peace. Since 1999 I have spoken to over 30,000 young people and teachers in every continent, recording 417 hours of their thoughts. It was clear when showing the film in the classroom that young people wanted to act on 21 September; I hope that the DVD is the first of many global education tools that will support young people to become the driving force behind the vision of a united world.
Simply by watching the film as a class on Peace Day, 21 September 2006, you are making an important commitment to peace, raising awareness of the Day and supporting Peace One Day’s ‘191 member state’ goal. Whatever you decide to do as a class on Peace Day, thank you so much in anticipation of your support. To obtain your copy of the DVD and make your schools commitment to Peace Day 2006, please e-mail us at web@peaceoneday.org.
Now you know about Peace Day, and now that you know we want to create a moment of global unity on the Day, 21 September, perhaps you would like to think about how many commitments you could generate in schools in other countries for Peace Day!
Whatever you are able to do on, or in the lead up to 21 September, please let us know so that we can post your school’s commitment on the website (www.peaceoneday.org) 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 local community.
Thank you again for your support and best of luck with your Peace Day activity.
In peace
Jeremy Gilley
Founder, Peace One Day
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