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We're 365 days away from a Global Truce, hopefully

Fundraising | Niki May Young | 22 Sep 2011

World peace - will it ever be achievable? Niki May Young thinks that because of breakthroughs in social media it may not be such a distant dream after all, at least for a day.

John Lennon famously painted the picture:

 Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
 

The concept of a World Peace is a dream I’m sure we’ve all had as a child. Beauty queens around the world have gushed about it for decades, and it's at the forefront of the civil society movement. But in my experience, as I've become more aware of the complexities of life as I’ve gotten older, the dream has become somewhat foggy and distant, and less achievable as the years have gone by. Yet there's one man who's not only held on to that dream, but is making it happen - documentary maker and Peace One Day founder Jeremy Gilley.

Last night at London's O2 arena the spotlight switched on to Gilley's latest campaign, and perhaps civil society's most ambitious undertaking yet - Global Truce 2012.

Performances from Razorlight, Eliza Doolittle, Newton Faulkner, Yusuf Islam, AfroReggae, the English National Ballet and Flawless were punctuated with messages from political, educational and sporting leaders lending their support to the campaign which will see a global ceasefire for one day, 21 September 2012. The lowering of guns, halting of wars and pausing of violence would allow children to be immunized, aid to be moved, lives to be saved and children inspired, said Gilley. Simple it may sound, but the campaign has already been twelve years in the making.

Gilley and his team have been tirelessly campaigning, filming, sharing their experiences on the ground and accruing corporate sponsorship on every continent in the world. What they have achieved so far is startling. In 2001 United Nations members unanimously adopted 21 September as Peace Day. In 2010, Peace Day managed to reduce violence in Afghanistan by 70 per cent on that one day, as the Taliban agreed not to block aid workers involved with the movement for 24 hours. This achievement set a new standard for the POD team, and the movement for Global Truce 2012 began. Ban Ki Moon shared his support in a recorded message to the filled O2 Arena last night.

But while Armistice Day was reached through political negotiation, the Christmas truce of 1914, when both German and British soldiers laid down their weapons to share season’s greetings and sing united, was achieved not through politics, but through shared values and an organic spreading of the message. In order to create what POD hopes will be the largest reduction in global violence in recorded history, the Global Truce 2012 campaign combines both diplomatic persuasion and a range of social media. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Foursquare, tumblr and meetup are being hit hard in an effort to spread the word wider and faster than ever before possible.

Perhaps now is the best time to launch such an ambitious campaign - at a time where we are more connected than ever, where we’re rarely more than a few clicks away from people in every country of the world. Social media could be just the tool to achieve that goal, at least for a short while. I salute Jeremy Gilley for not only holding on to his dream, but for engaging the world in it as well. This is a campaign we can all get involved with. So I’m off to tweet the message, sign the petition, post my photos on Facebook and download the app for my iPhone. You should too…

Watch and share Gilley's Global Truce 2012 film here:

Join Global Truce 2012 here:

www.peaceoneday.org

Share Global Truce 2012:

www.facebook.com/peaceoneday

www.meetup.com/Peace-One-Day

www.youtube.com/peaceoneday

www.globaltruce.tumblr.com

twitter.com/peaceoneday

Tweet

#peaceconcert2011

#globaltruce2012

#peaceoneday

Check into Foursquare:

foursquare.com/peaceoneday

Download the free Peace One Day App:

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