Peace One Day Concert

21 June 2012 | Ebrington, Londonderry

Both ambitious and inspiring: the campaign calling for one day of global peace is coming to the city of Derry/Londonderry in 2012.

The Peace One Day project started small, and quickly expanded to involve the support of the UN and a growing number of celebrities - all coming together to spread the ideals of project  founder; producer and filmmaker Jeremy Gilley.

Gilley set up the campaign in 1999, producing a documentary featuring Kofi Annan, Angelina Jolie and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson. In 2001, the UN unanimously adopted the first ever day of global ceasefire and non-violence, which is held each year on 21 September.

In an article for the Huffington Post, Gilley wrote: “This whole journey began with such a simple idea: a day of peace. We all want a world without war, without conflict, without human suffering. A single day is a window of opportunity.”

The project picked up further pace when actor Jude Law got involved as the project’s ambassador. Peace One Day has resulted in lives saved. In 2007, Gilley and Law travelled to Afghanistan to front a campaign that resulted in 4.5 million children being vaccinated against polio in areas that couldn’t be reached prior to the project.

In 2008, the UN recorded a 70% reduction in violence in Afghanistan on Peace Day (21 September) in comparison to that date in previous years. Peace Day 2010 also oversaw 50,000 women and children in 23 locations be protected against all vaccine-preventable diseases. A nationwide campaign to fight polio amongst eight million children was also launched.

New York, Paris and London have hosted this concert in the past – an electrifying concert in London marked Peace Day in 2011, and featured Cat Stevens, Razorlight and Eliza Doolittle – and now it’s Derry/Londonderry’s turn to host this inspiring initiative.

The concert will take place in Ebrington Barracks, and the excitement is already mounting. Massive Attack is the first act to be confirmed for the event, which sets the bar high for what other acts will be added over the coming months.