Smile, hug, love. Peace Day wins vows to do better

By Carole Vaporean

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Australian Candice Mace vows to hug a rival, Michael Hemmer from the United States will send flowers to his ex-wives to make amends, and Briton Chris Hancock won't shout at his housemate for leaving the gas on.

These are just three of the commitment pledges made by nearly 8,000 people, groups, schools or companies on a Web site for non-profit organization Peace One Day that had made Sept 21 into a day when all nations can unite to stop conflict.

Peace One Day was founded by British film-maker Jeremy Gilley, who became so frustrated with news of war and destruction that he decided to create a day of non-violence and to make a film of the process. That was in 1999.

He lobbied the United Nations for a fixed calendar date -- Sept 21 -- for an international day of peace and persuaded UN member states to pass a resolution calling for a day of ceasefire and non-violence. The campaign was launched in 2001 and Peace One Day has gradually started to spread.

"If you build a house, you start with one brick. If we want to build peace, why not start with one day, and that day has arrived," Gilley told Reuters.

This year London's Royal Albert Hall is holding a concert, "Peace One Day," which is being supported by soccer star David Beckham, actor Jude Law and singer Annie Lennox

Beckham is sending in a short film, Law will make a guest appearance and Lennox will be performing as will Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens), James Morrison and Marc Almond.

"Something that's of common interest to every man, woman and child on the planet must surely be the notion of peace. Without peace we cannot survive," wrote Lennox on the Royal Albert Hall's Web site.

Gilley said a record number of peace commitments have been logged onto the Web site, wwww.peaceoneday.com, including a group in Bhutan that will plant trees and another in Iraq that pledges to honor life in Baghdad.

Gilley said he chose September 21 as International Peace Day

because it was close to the U.N. General Assembly's annual opening -- and it was his grandfather's favorite number.

Peace One Day's mission is now to spread the word about the day globally and enlist all sectors of society to practice non-violence for at least a day.