One Billion Acts of Peace

In September 2006, 10 Nobel Peace Laureates and more than 3,000 young people traveled from all over the world to Denver, Colorado, to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the PeaceJam Foundation. The 14th Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, President Oscar Arias, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Mairead Maguire, Betty Williams, José Ramos-Horta, Jody Williams, and Shirin Ebadi came together in the largest gathering of Nobel Peace Laureates ever held in U.S. history. They announced plans for a 10-year campaign, now known as the One Billion Acts of Peace campaign, designed to tackle what they perceive as the 10 greatest challenges to the survival of humanity and the well-being of our planet today.^[1][2]

The One Billion Acts of Peace Issue Areas

• Advancing Women and Children
• Environmental Sustainability
• Access to Water and Natural Resources
• Education and Community Development
• Conflict Resolution
• Alleviation of Extreme Poverty
• Inclusivity and Cooperation
• Human Rights
• Weapons Access and Proliferation
• Global Health and Wellness^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]}

The Campaign

On May 29, 2014, the PeaceJam Foundation launched the One Billion Acts of Peace Campaign at the United Nation’s Social Innovation Summit.^[10] Acts of peace are thoughtful actions critical to creating world peace which are based on one of ten key issues defined by the Nobel Peace Laureates.^[11][12] The campaign website has been visited by global citizens from 192 of the 195 nations on Earth. By January 1, 2016, more than 7 Million Acts of Peace had been logged onto the One Billion Acts of Peace website. The campaign has more than 800,000 followers on social media, and reached over 40 million people in the first year of the campaign alone.^[13][14] In January 2015, seven Nobel Peace Laureates (Desmond Tutu, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Betty Williams, Leymah Gbowee, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Jody Williams and Oscar Arias) nominated campaign organizers Dawn Engle and Ivan Suvanjieff and the One Billion Acts of Peace campaign for the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize.^{[15][16][17][18][19]}

Every April the One Billion Acts of Peace campaign highlights the best acts of peace submitted that year, and people around the world vote via social media on their favorite projects, worldwide. Five winners are then selected, and they are honored at a ceremony in Monte Carlo every June.^{[20][21][22][23][24]} The first annual "Hero Awards" Ceremony for the One Billion Acts of Peace campaign was held at the Monte Carlo T.V. and Film Festival on June 14, 2015.^[25]

2015 Hero Award Winners

The 2015 Hero Awards Ceremony.

• Best Youth Act: Ghana Health Campaign
• Best Nonprofit Act: ASANA
• Best Business Act: WoofTrax
• Best Up & Coming Peacemaker: Promotora Mexicana de Valores Deportivos AC
• Best University Act: Stratford University^[26][27]

References