I was basically concerned about what was going on in the world. I couldn't understand the starvation, the destruction, the killing of innocent people. Making sense of those things is a very difficult thing to do. And when I was 12, I became an actor. I was bottom of the class. I haven't got any qualifications. I was told I was dyslexic. In fact, I have got qualifications. I got a D in pottery, which was the one thing that I did get -- which was useful, obviously. And so concern is where all of this comes from. And then, being an actor, I was doing these different kinds of things, and I felt the content of the work that I was involved in really wasn't cutting it, that there surely had to be more.
Ustvari, bio sam zabrinut šta se dešava u svetu. Nisam mogao da razumem glad, razaranja, ubijanje nevinih ljudi. Pronaći smisao u tim stvarima je jako teško. Kada sam ima 12 godina, postao sam glumac. Bio sam najgori u klasi. Nisam imao nikakve kvalifikacije. Rekli su mi da sam dislektičan. Ustvari, imao sam kvalitete. Dobio sam D (2) iz vajanja, što je bila jedna stvar koju sam razumeo -- a koja je bila od koristi, očigledno. I tako je zabrinutost razlog zbog kojeg je sve ovo počelo. A onda sam, kao glumac, radio razne stvari. I osećao sam da sadržaj posla u kojem sam bio zaista nije dolazio, da je sigurno postojalo nešto više.
And at that point, I read a book by Frank Barnaby, this wonderful nuclear physicist, and he said that media had a responsibility, that all sectors of society had a responsibility to try and progress things and move things forward. And that fascinated me, because I'd been messing around with a camera most of my life. And then I thought, well maybe I could do something. Maybe I could become a filmmaker. Maybe I can use the form of film constructively to in some way make a difference. Maybe there's a little change I can get involved in. So I started thinking about peace, and I was obviously, as I said to you, very much moved by these images, trying to make sense of that. Could I go and speak to older and wiser people who would tell me how they made sense of the things that are going on? Because it's obviously incredibly frightening.
U tom periodu, pročitao sam knjigu od Franka Barnabija, tog čudesnog nuklearnog fizičara, koji je rekao da mediji imaju dužnost, da svi segmenti društva imaju odgovornost da probaju da promene i pokrenu stvari. I to me je fasciniralo, jer sam se igrao sa kamerom skoro ceo život. I onda sam pomislio, možda nešto da uradim. Možda mogu da postanem redatelj. Možda bi mogao da iskoristim film konstruktivno, i da na neki način napravim razliku. Možda mogu da se priključim i napravim malu promenu. I tako sam počeo da razmišljam o miru, i očigledno sam, kao što sam već rekao, bio vrlo potresen tim slikama i pokušavao sam da nađem smisao u svemu tome. Da li sam mogao da pričam sa starijim i iskusnijim ljudima koji bi mi rekli kako oni nalaze načina da razumeju stvari koje se događaju? Jer je očigledno vrlo zastrašujuće.
But I realized that, having been messing around with structure as an actor, that a series of sound bites in itself wasn't enough, that there needed to be a mountain to climb, there needed to be a journey that I had to take. And if I took that journey, no matter whether it failed or succeeded, it would be completely irrelevant. The point was that I would have something to hook the questions of -- is humankind fundamentally evil? Is the destruction of the world inevitable? Should I have children? Is that a responsible thing to do? Etc., etc.
Ali sam shvatio dok sam se igrao kao glumac, da samo zvuk nije dovoljan, da mora da postoji planina uz koju se treba popeti da mora da postoji put kojim moram da pođem. Da sam krenuo na taj put, bez obzira da li ću uspeti ili neuspeti, bilo bi sasvim nevažno. Suština je da bi imao nešto za šta bi se uhvatio -- da li je čovečanstvo fundamentalno zlo? Da li je uništenje sveta neizbežno? Da li bi trebalo da imam decu? Da li je to odgovorno? Itd. itd..
So I was thinking about peace, and then I was thinking, well where's the starting point for peace? And that was when I had the idea. There was no starting point for peace. There was no day of global unity. There was no day of intercultural cooperation. There was no day when humanity came together, separate in all of those things and just shared it together -- that we're in this together, and that if we united and we interculturally cooperated, then that might be the key to humanity's survival. That might shift the level of consciousness around the fundamental issues that humanity faces -- if we did it just for a day.
Razmišljao sam o miru, i onda sam pomislio, gde je polazna tačka za mir? A onda mi je pala ideja. Nema početne tačke za mir. Nije postojao nijedan dan globalnog jedinstva. Nije bilo dana interkulturalne saradnje. Nije bilo dana u kojem se čovečanstvo okupilo. i odvojilo u svim tim stvarima i samo delilo sve zajedno -- da smo u ovome svi zajedno, i ako se ujedinimo i počnemo interkulturalnu saradnju, mogli bismo da budemo ključ opstanka čovečanstva. To bi možda pomerilo nivo svesti u vezi fundamentalnih problema sa kojim se čovečanstvo suočava -- kada bismo to uradili samo jedan dan.
So obviously we didn't have any money. I was living at my mom's place. And we started writing letters to everybody. You very quickly work out what is it that you've got to do to fathom that out. How do you create a day voted by every single head of state in the world to create the first ever Ceasefire Nonviolence Day, the 21st of September? And I wanted it to be the 21st of September because it was my granddad's favorite number. He was a prisoner of war. He saw the bomb go off at Nagasaki. It poisoned his blood. He died when I was 11. So he was like my hero. And the reason why 21 was the number is 700 men left, 23 came back, two died on the boat and 21 hit the ground. And that's why we wanted it to be the 21st of September as the date of peace.
Naravno, mi nismo imali novca. Živeo sam sa mamom. A onda smo počeli da pišemo svima pisma. Vrlo brzo shvatiš šta je to što treba da uradiš da bi napravio smernicu. Kako napraviš dan za koji će glasati svi predsednici država sveta da bi napravio prvi ikada dan prekida vatre i beznasilja, 21 septembar? Želeo sam da to bude baš 21 septembar jer je to bio omiljeni broj mog dede. Bio je ratni zarobljenik. Video je kako su bombe padale na Nagasaki. To ga je uništilo. Umro je kad sam ja imao 11 godina. On bio moj heroj. A razlog zašto je baš broj 21: 700 muškaraca je otišlo, 23 se vratilo, dvojica su poginuli na brodu a 21 je stigao. I zato smo želili da datum bude 21. septembar.
So we began this journey, and we launched it in 1999. And we wrote to heads of state, their ambassadors, Nobel Peace laureates, NGOs, faiths, various organizations -- literally wrote to everybody. And very quickly, some letters started coming back. And we started to build this case. And I remember the first letter. One of the first letters was from the Dalai Lama. And of course we didn't have the money; we were playing guitars and getting the money for the stamps that we were sending out all of [this mail]. A letter came through from the Dalai Lama saying, "This is an amazing thing. Come and see me. I'd love to talk to you about the first ever day of peace." And we didn't have money for the flight. And I rang Sir Bob Ayling, who was CEO of BA at the time, and said, "Mate, we've got this invitation. Could you give me a flight? Because we're going to go see him." And of course, we went and saw him and it was amazing. And then Dr. Oscar Arias came forward.
Tako smo započeli ovu priču, i upustili se u nju 1999. godine. Pisali smo precednicima, njihovim ambasadorima, nobelovcima, nevladinim organizacijama, vernicima, raznim ogranizacijama -- bukvalno svima. I vrlo brzo, počeli smo da dobijamo pisma natrag. Tako smo počeli da radimo na ovom slučaju. Sećam se prvog pisma. Jedno od prvih pisama je bilo od Dalai Lame. Naravno, mi nismo imali para, svirali smo gitare, i skupljali pare za markice za pisma koja smo slali. U pismo od Dalai Lame pisalo je, "Ovo je neverovatna stvar. Posetite me. Voleo bih da popričam sa vama o prvom ikada danu mira". Ali mi nismo imali para da platimo let. Pa sam pozvao Boba Ajlinga, koji je bio direktor Britiš Arvejza u to vreme, I rekao su mu : "Prijatelju, dobili smo ovaj poziv. Da li bi mogao da nam obezbediš let? Jer treba da idemo da vidimo njega". I naravno otišli smo, videli se sa njim i bilo je neverovatno. A onda se pojavio Doktor Oscar Arias.
And actually, let me go back to that slide, because when we launched it in 1999 -- this idea to create the first ever day of ceasefire and non-violence -- we invited thousands of people. Well not thousands -- hundreds of people, lots of people -- all the press, because we were going to try and create the first ever World Peace Day, a peace day. And we invited everybody, and no press showed up. There were 114 people there -- they were mostly my friends and family. And that was kind of like the launch of this thing. But it didn't matter because we were documenting, and that was the thing. For me, it was really about the process. It wasn't about the end result. And that's the beautiful thing about the camera. They used to say the pen is mightier than the sword. I think the camera is. And just staying in the moment with it was a beautiful thing and really empowering actually.
Ustvari, dopustite mi da se vratim na taj slajd, Jer kada smo poceli 1999. -- ideja da kreiramo prvi ikad dan primirja i beznasilja -- pozvali smo hiljade ljudi. Možda ne baš hiljade -- stotine ljudi, mnogo ljudi -- sve novine, jer smo želeli da napravimo, prvi ikada svetski dan mira, jedan dan mira. Pa smo pozvali sve ali niko od novinara se nije pojavio. Bilo je 114 ljudi -- uglavnom moji prijatelji i porodica. I to je otprilike bio početak ove stvari. Ali nije bilo važno, jer smo sve snimali, a to je bilo važno. Za mene lično, važniji je bio proces. Nije bio toliko bitan krajnji ishod. A to je divna stvar oko kamere. U prošlosti su govorili da je olovka jača od mača. Ja mislim da je kamera. I samo biti u tom momentu je bila divna stvar, I vrlo snažna zapravo.
So anyway, we began the journey. And here you see people like Mary Robinson, I went to see in Geneva. I'm cutting my hair, it's getting short and long, because every time I saw Kofi Annan, I was so worried that he thought I was a hippie that I cut it, and that was kind of what was going on. (Laughter) Yeah, I'm not worried about it now. So Mary Robinson, she said to me, "Listen, this is an idea whose time has come. This must be created." Kofi Annan said, "This will be beneficial to my troops on the ground." The OAU at the time, led by Salim Ahmed Salim, said, "I must get the African countries involved." Dr. Oscar Arias, Nobel Peace laureate, president now of Costa Rica, said, "I'll do everything that I can." So I went and saw Amr Moussa at the League of Arab States. I met Mandela at the Arusha peace talks, and so on and so on and so on -- while I was building the case to prove whether this idea would make sense.
I tako počeli smo naš put. Ovde vidite ljude kao što su Meri Robinson, sa kojom sam išao da se vidim u Ženevi. Skraćivao sam kosu, ide iz kratke u dugačku, jer svaki put kada sam trebao da se vidim sa Kofi Ananom, bio sam zabrinut da će misliti da sam hipi, pa sam je ošišao. Zbog toga se to dešavalo. (Smeh) Da, sada ne brinem o tome. Dakle, Meri Robinson, rekla mi je: "Ovo je ideja kojoj je došlo vreme. Ovo mora da se napravi". Kofi Anan je rekao: "Ovo će biti korisno za moje trupe na kopnu". OAU( Ogranization of African Unity) u to vreme, predvodio je Salim Ahmed Salim, koji mi je rekao: "Ja moram da uključim sve afričke zemlje". Dr.Oskar Arias, nobelovac, sada predsednik Kostarike, rekao je: "Uradiću sve što mogu". Otišao sam u posetu Amr Moussa u ligi Arapskih zemalja. Upoznao sam Mendelu na Arusha pregovorima o miru. I tako dalje i tako dalje i tako dalje -- dok sam radio na slučaju da dokažem da li ova ideja ima nekog smisla.
And then we were listening to the people. We were documenting everywhere. 76 countries in the last 12 years, I've visited. And I've always spoken to women and children wherever I've gone. I've recorded 44,000 young people. I've recorded about 900 hours of their thoughts. I'm really clear about how young people feel when you talk to them about this idea of having a starting point for their actions for a more peaceful world through their poetry, their art, their literature, their music, their sport, whatever it might be. And we were listening to everybody.
Onda smo počeli da slušamo ljude. Dokumentovali smo svuda. Obišao sam 76 zemalja u proteklih 12 godina. I gde god sam išao pričao sam sa ženama i decom. Snimio sam 44.000 mladih ljudi. Snimio sam oko 900 sati njihovih razmišljanja. Potpuno mi je jasno kako se mladi ljudi osećaju kada se sa njima priča o ovoj ideji o pronalaženju polazne tačke za njihov doprinos mirnijem svetu kroz njihove pesme, njihovu umetnost, njihovu literaturu, njihovu muziku, njihove sportove i šta god još bilo. Slušali smo svakoga.
And it was an incredibly thing, working with the U.N. and working with NGOs and building this case. I felt that I was presenting a case on behalf of the global community to try and create this day. And the stronger the case and the more detailed it was, the better chance we had of creating this day. And it was this stuff, this, where I actually was in the beginning kind of thinking no matter what happened, it didn't actually matter. It didn't matter if it didn't create a day of peace. The fact is that, if I tried and it didn't work, then I could make a statement about how unwilling the global community is to unite -- until, it was in Somalia, picking up that young girl. And this young child who'd taken about an inch and a half out of her leg with no antiseptic, and that young boy who was a child soldier, who told me he'd killed people -- he was about 12 -- these things made me realize that this was not a film that I could just stop. And that actually, at that moment something happened to me, which obviously made me go, "I'm going to document. If this is the only film that I ever make, I'm going to document until this becomes a reality." Because we've got to stop, we've got to do something where we unite -- separate from all the politics and religion that, as a young person, is confusing me. I don't know how to get involved in that process.
Bilo je neverovatno iskustvo raditi sa UN-om i raditi sa nevladinim organizacijama na izgradnji ovog slučaja. Osećao sam se kao da predstavljam ovaj slučaj u ime svetske zajednice kako bi pokušali da stvorimo ovaj dan. I što je slučaj postajao jači i bilo više detalja, imali smo veće šanse da ga stvorimo. I bila je ova stvar, ova, kada sam zapravo bio na početku razmišljanja šta god da se desi, nije se zapravo desilo. Nije bilo bitno ako ne uspem da stvorim dan mira. Istina je, da nisam probao i nije uspelo, mogao bi da napravim izjavu o tome koliko je globalna populacija nespremna da se udruži -- sve dok nisam bio u Somaliji, podižući ovu devojčicu. Ovo malo dete kojoj je odstranjen otprilike jedan i po inč noge, bez antiseptika, i ovaj dečak koji je bio dete vojnik, koji mi je rekao da je ubijao ljude -- on je imao 12 godina -- te stvari su me naterale da shvatim da ovo nije film koji mogu samo da zaustavim. U tom trenutku se nešto desilo u meni, što me je očigledno nateralo da "hoću da snimim, ako je ovo jedini film koji ću ikada napraviti, snimaću dok ne postane realnost". Jer moramo da zastanemo, moramo da uradimo nešto gde ćemo se ujediniti -- i razdvojiti od politike i religije ovo je meni koji sam mlad veoma zbunjujuće. Ne znam kako da se uključim u taj proces.
And then on the seventh of September, I was invited to New York. The Costa Rican government and the British government had put forward to the United Nations General Assembly, with 54 co-sponsors, the idea of the first ever Ceasefire Nonviolence Day, the 21st of September, as a fixed calendar date, and it was unanimously adopted by every head of state in the world. (Applause) Yeah, but there were hundreds of individuals, obviously, who made that a reality. And thank you to all of them. That was an incredible moment. I was at the top of the General Assembly just looking down into it and seeing it happen. And as I mentioned, when it started, we were at the Globe, and there was no press. And now I was thinking, "Well, the press it really going to hear this story." And suddenly, we started to institutionalize this day.
A onda sam 7 septembra pozvan u Nju Jork. Kostarikanska i britanska vlada prosledile su generalnoj skupštini Ujedinjenih Nacija, sa 54 kosponzora, predlog o prvom ikada danu obustavljanja vatre i beznasilja, sa utvrđenim kalendarskim danom, 21. septembrom, i predlog je jednoglasno usvojen od strane svakog šefa države u svetu. (Aplauz) Da, ali je svakako bilo stotine pojedinaca koji su pomogli da ovo postane stvarnost. Hvala svakom od njih. Bio je to neverovatan momenat. Stajao sam tačno iznad generalne skupštine i gledao dok se dešavalo. Kao što sam spomenuo, kada sam počeo, bilo smo u Globe-u, i nije bilo novinara. Tada sam razmišljao:" Ovoga puta štampa će zaista da čuje za ovu priču". Odjednom smo počeli da institucionalizujemo ovaj dan.
Kofi Annan invited me on the morning of September the 11th to do a press conference. And it was 8:00 AM when I stood there. And I was waiting for him to come down, and I knew that he was on his way. And obviously he never came down. The statement was never made. The world was never told there was a day of global ceasefire and nonviolence. And it was obviously a tragic moment for the thousands of people who lost their lives, there and then subsequently all over the world. It never happened. And I remember thinking, "This is exactly why, actually, we have to work even harder. And we have to make this day work. It's been created; nobody knows. But we have to continue this journey, and we have to tell people, and we have to prove it can work."
Kofi Anan me je pozvao tog jutra 11. septembra, da napravim konferenciju za štampu. Bilo je 8:00 ujutru kada sam stajao tamo. Čekao sam ga da siđe i znao sam da je na putu. Naravno on nikada nije sišao. Objava nikada nije urađena. Svetu nikada nije objavljen dan globalnog prekida vatre i beznasilja. To je svakako bio tragičan momenat za hiljade ljudi koji su izgubili živote, tamo i kao posledicu svuda po svetu. Nikada se nije desilo. I sećam se kako sam razmišljao, "Ovo je upravo to na čemu moramo da radimo još više. I ovaj dan mora da zaživi. Stvoren je, a niko ne zna. Ali mi moramo da nastavimo naš put, i da obavestimo ljude, da dokažemo da može da zaživi".
And I left New York freaked, but actually empowered. And I felt inspired by the possibilities that if it did, then maybe we wouldn't see things like that. I remember putting that film out and going to cynics. I was showing the film, and I remember being in Israel and getting it absolutely slaughtered by some guys having watched the film -- that it's just a day of peace, it doesn't mean anything. It's not going to work; you're not going to stop the fighting in Afghanistan; the Taliban won't listen, etc., etc. It's just symbolism. And that was even worse than actually what had just happened in many ways, because it couldn't not work. I'd spoken in Somalia, Burundi, Gaza, the West Bank, India, Sri Lanka, Congo, wherever it was, and they'd all tell me, "If you can create a window of opportunity, we can move aid, we can vaccinate children. Children can lead their projects. They can unite. They can come together. If people would stop, lives will be saved." That's what I'd heard. And I'd heard that from the people who really understood what conflict was about.
Otišao sam iz Nju Jorka prestravljen, ali pun energije. Bio sam inspirisan idejom da ako uspemo, možda više nećemo viđati stvari kao ovu. Sećam se kako sam puštao ovaj film cinicima. Prikazivao sam film, i sećam se da su me u Izraelu ubili u pojam nekoliko ljudi koji su ga upravo pogledali -- to je samo dan mira i ne znači ništa. Neće ti uspeti, nema šanse da zaustaviš borbe u Afganistanu; Talibani neće slušati, itd, itd. To je samo simbolizam. A to je u mnogim slučajevima još gore od onog što se već desilo, jer nije zaživelo. Pričao sam u Somaliji, Burundiju, Gazi i Vest Benku, Indiji, Šri Lanci, Kongou, gde god se dešavalo, i svi bi mi rekli: "Ako uspeš da stvoriš priliku, mi ćemo dopremiti pomoć i vakcinisati decu. Deca ce biti vođe projekta. Ona mogu da ujedine. Ona mogu da nas povežu. Kada bi se ljudi zaustavili, sačuvali bi živote". To sam čuo. A čuo sam od ljudi koji su zaista razumeli šta je suština borbe.
And so I went back to the United Nations. I decided that I'd continue filming and make another movie. And I went back to the U.N. for another couple of years. We started moving around the corridors of the U.N. system, governments and NGOs, trying desperately to find somebody to come forward and have a go at it, see if we could make it possible. And after lots and lots of meetings obviously, I'm delighted that this man, Ahmad Fawzi, one of my heroes and mentors really, he managed to get UNICEF involved. And UNICEF, God bless them, they said, "Okay, we'll have a go." And then UNAMA became involved in Afghanistan. It was historical. Could it work in Afghanistan with UNAMA and WHO and civil society, etc., etc., etc.? And I was getting it all on film and I was recording it, and I was thinking, "This is it. This is the possibility of it maybe working. But even if it doesn't, at least the door is open and there's a chance."
Tako da sam se ponovo vratio Ujedinjenim Nacijama. Rešio sam da nastavim sa snimanjem i napravim još jedan film. Obraćao sam se UN-u još nekoliko godina. Počeli smo da obilazimo hodnike UN-ovog sistema, vlada i nevladinih organizacija, očajnički pokušavajući da nađemo nekoga ko će nam prići i odobriti inicijativu, da vidimo da li je moguće. I posle mnogo, mnogo sastanaka, čast mi je da je ovaj čovek, Ahmad Fawzi, stvarno jedan od mojih heroja i mentora, koji je uspeo da ubedi UNICEF da se priključi. UNICEF je, Bog ih blagoslovio rekao: "U redu, probaćemo". A onda se i UNAMA priključila u Afganistanu. To je bio istorijski momenat. Ako uspe u Afganistanu sa UNAMA i Svetskom zdravstvenom organizacijom i civilnim organizacijama, itd., itd., itd.? Sve sam snimao, i razmišljao,"To je to. Ovo je prilika da možda zaživi. Ali čak i ako ne uspe, bar se otvaraju vrata i postoji šansa".
And so I went back to London, and I went and saw this chap, Jude Law. And I saw him because he was an actor, I was an actor, I had a connection to him, because we needed to get to the press, we needed this attraction, we needed the media to be involved. Because if we start pumping it up a bit maybe more people would listen and there'd be more -- when we got into certain areas, maybe there would be more people interested. And maybe we'd be helped financially a little bit more, which had been desperately difficult. I won't go into that. So Jude said, "Okay, I'll do some statements for you."
Vratio sam se u London, i otišao da se vidim sa ovim tipom, Jud Law-om. Hteo sam da se nađem sa njim jer je on glumac, ja sam glumac. Osetio sam konekciju sa njim, trebalo nam je da se pojavimo u štampi, trebalo nam je ta atrakcija, trebalo nam je da se mediji umešaju. Jer ako počnemo malo više da se pojavljujemo, možda će tada više ljudi slušati a onda još više -- tako da kada odemo u neke delove, možda će biti više zainteresovanih ljudi. A možda će nam pristici i malo više materijalne pomoći, što nam je bilo užasno teško. Neću sada o tome. Jud mi je rekao, "Ok, uradiću par izjava za tebe".
While I was filming these statements, he said to me, "Where are you going next?" I said, "I'm going to go to Afghanistan." He said, "Really?" And I could sort of see a little look in his eye of interest. So I said to him, "Do you want to come with me? It'd be really interesting if you came. It would help and bring attention. And that attention would help leverage the situation, as well as all of the other sides of it." I think there's a number of pillars to success. One is you've got to have a great idea. The other is you've got to have a constituency, you've got to have finance, and you've got to be able to raise awareness. And actually I could never raise awareness by myself, no matter what I'd achieved. So these guys were absolutely crucial. So he said yes, and we found ourselves in Afghanistan.
Dok sam ga snimao, rekao mi je , "Gde ideš sledeće?" Odgovorio sam: "Idem u Afganistan." On kaže, "Stvarno?" Mogao sam da mu vidim u očima tu zainteresovanost. Pa sam mu rekao, "Hoćeš da ideš sa mnom? Bilo bi vrlo interesantno da pođes. Pomoglo bi da skrenemo pažnju. A pažnja bi uticala na situaciju, kao i na sve ostalo". Mislim da postoji određen broj stepenika do uspeha. Prvi je da imaš dobru ideju. Druga je da moraš da imaš podršku, moraš da imaš finansije, i moraš da budeš u stanju da pridobiješ pažnju. Ja nikada ne bih bio u stanju da pridobijem pažnju na sebe, bez obzira šta sam postigao. Tako da su ovi momci bili od ključnog značaja. I tako on pristane, i odjednom smo u Afganistanu.
It was a really incredible thing that when we landed there, I was talking to various people, and they were saying to me, "You've got to get everybody involved here. You can't just expect it to work. You have to get out and work." And we did, and we traveled around, and we spoke to elders, we spoke to doctors, we spoke to nurses, we held press conferences, we went out with soldiers, we sat down with ISAF, we sat down with NATO, we sat down with the U.K. government. I mean, we basically sat down with everybody -- in and out of schools with ministers of education, holding these press conferences, which of course, now were loaded with press, everybody was there. There was an interest in what was going on. This amazing woman, Fatima Gailani, was absolutely instrumental in what went on as she was the spokesperson for the resistance against the Russians. And her Afghan network was just absolutely everywhere. And she was really crucial in getting the message in.
Bilo je neverovatno kada smo sleteli, pričao sam sa raznim ljudima, i govorili su mi, "Moraš da uključiš sve ljude ovde. Ne možeš da očekuješ da će da se desi. Moraš da se pokreneš i da radiš na tome". Pa smo to i uradili, putovali smo okolo, pričali starijima, pričali smo sa doktorima, sa medicinskim sestrama, održali smo konferenciju za štampu, išli kod vojske, našli se sa ISAF-om, našli se sa NATO-m, našli se sa britanskom vladom. Mislim, praktično smo se našli sa svima -- u i van škola sa ministrima za obrazovanje, držali konferencije za štampu koje su sada, naravno bile prepune novinara, svi su bili tamo. Postojao je interes o tome šta se događalo. Ova fantastična žena, Fatima Magalani, je bila od neverovatne pomoći oko svega što se dešavalo, ona je bila portpalor u pružanju otpora Rusima. Njeni kontakti i mreža ljudi u Avganistanu su bili praktično svuda. Ona je zaista bila od ključne važnosti da se poruka pročuje.
And then we went home. We'd sort of done it. We had to wait now and see what happened. And I got home, and I remember one of the team bringing in a letter to me from the Taliban. And that letter basically said, "We'll observe this day. We will observe this day. We see it as a window of opportunity. And we will not engage. We're not going to engage." And that meant that humanitarian workers wouldn't be kidnapped or killed. And then suddenly, I obviously knew at this point, there was a chance. And days later, 1.6 million children were vaccinated against polio as a consequence of everybody stopping. (Applause) And like the General Assembly, obviously the most wonderful, wonderful moment.
Onda smo otišli. Na neki način smo ga uradili. Sada je trebalo da čekamo i da vidimo šta će se desiti. Stigao sam kući, i sećam se jedne grupe kako mi donosi pismo od Talibana. U pismu je praktično pisalo, "Pridrzavaćemo se ovog dana. Prihvatićemo ovaj dan. Gledamo na ovaj dan kao na priliku. I nećemo se mešati. Mi je nećemo narušiti". To je značilo da humanitarni radnici neće biti kidnapovani ili ubijeni. A onda sam u momentu, odjednom shvatio da postoji šansa. Posle nekog vremena, 1,6 miliona dece je dobilo vakcinu protiv polia kao rezultat svih koji su prestali (sa borbom). (Aplauz) Kao i generalna skupština, ovo je bio najbolji, najbolji momenat.
And so then we wrapped the film up and we put it together because we had to go back. We put it into Dari and Pashto. We put it in the local dialects. We went back to Afghanistan, because the next year was coming, and we wanted to support. But more importantly, we wanted to go back, because these people in Afghanistan were the heroes. They were the people who believed in peace and the possibilities of it, etc., etc. -- and they made it real. And we wanted to go back and show them the film and say, "Look, you guys made this possible. And thank you very much." And we gave the film over. Obviously it was shown, and it was amazing.
Posle toga smo završili film jer smo morali da se vratimo. Preveli smo ga na Dari i Pasto. Preveli smo ih na lokalne dijalekte. Vratili smo se u Afganistan, jer se nova godina približavala i hteli smo da pomognemo. Ali još važnije, hteli smo da se vratimo, jer su ti ljudi iz Afganistana pravi heroji. To su bili ljudi koji su verovali u mir u mogućnosti da se ostvari itd. itd. -- i učinili su da se desi. Hteli smo da se vratimo i da im pokažemo film i kažemo, "Vidite, vi ste učinili da se ovo desi. Hvala vam puno". I predali smo im film. Naravno pogledali su ga i bilo je divno.
And then that year, that year, 2008, this ISAF statement from Kabul, Afghanistan, September 17th: "General Stanley McChrystal, commander of international security assistance forces in Afghanistan, announced today ISAF will not conduct offensive military operations on the 21st of September." They were saying they would stop. And then there was this other statement that came out from the U.N. Department of Security and Safety saying that, in Afghanistan, because of this work, the violence was down by 70 percent. 70 percent reduction in violence on this day at least. And that completely blew my mind almost more than anything.
A onda te godine, te godine, 2008., ISAF je dao izjavu iz Kabula Afganistana, 17. septembra: "General Stenley McChrystal, komandant međunarodne bezbednosne pomoći u Afganistanu, danas objavljuje da ISAF neće sprovesti nikakve ofanzivne vojne operacije 21. septembra". Hteli su da kažu da će prestati. A onda je došla i ova druga izjava od afganistanskog sigurnosno-bezbednosnog kabineta u kojoj je rečeno da je u Afganistanu, zbog ove akcije nasilje smanjeno za 70 procenata. 70 procenata smanjeno nasilje baš u tom jednom danu. To me je potpuno raspametilo skoro više nego išta drugo.
And I remember being stuck in New York, this time because of the volcano, which was obviously much less harmful. And I was there thinking about what was going on. And I kept thinking about this 70 percent. 70 percent reduction in violence -- in what everyone said was completely impossible and you couldn't do. And that made me think that, if we can get 70 percent in Afghanistan, then surely we can get 70 percent reduction everywhere. We have to go for a global truce. We have to utilize this day of ceasefire and nonviolence and go for a global truce, go for the largest recorded cessation of hostilities, both domestically and internationally, ever recorded.
I sećam se da sam bio zaglavljen u Nju Jorku, ovog puta zbog vulkana, koji je očigledno bio mnogo manje škodljiv. Bio sam tamo i razmišljao o svemu što se dešavalo. Razmišljao sam o tih 70 procenata. 70 procenata smanjenog nasilja -- zbog nečeg za šta su svi verovali da je potpuno nemoguće i da neću moći da izvedem. I to me je nateralo da razmišljam , da ako možemo da ostvarimo 70 procenata u Afganistanu, onda sasvim sigurno možemo da ostvarimo 70 procenata svudge. Moramo da se borimo za globalno primirje. Moramo da upotrebimo ovaj dan prekida vatre i beznasilja i da stremimo ka globalnom primirju, da idemo ka najvećem zabeleženom prekidu neprijateljstva, kako u lokalnim tako i u međunarodnim razmerama koji je ikada zabeležen.
That's exactly what we must do. And on the 21st of September this year, we're going to launch that campaign at the O2 Arena to go for that process, to try and create the largest recorded cessation of hostilities. And we will utilize all kinds of things -- have a dance and social media and visiting on Facebook and visit the website, sign the petition. And it's in the six official languages of the United Nations. And we'll globally link with government, inter-government, non-government, education, unions, sports. And you can see the education box there. We've got resources at the moment in 174 countries trying to get young people to be the driving force behind the vision of that global truce. And obviously the life-saving is increased, the concepts help.
To je upravo ono što moramo da uradimo. A na 21 septembar ove godine, počećemo kampanju u O2 Areni da označimo početak ovog procesa, da probamo da napravimo najveći ikada zebeležen prekid neprijateljstava. Ponudićemo razne stvari -- igraj, koristi društvene mreže i poseti na Facebook-u, poseti vebsajt, potpiši peticiju. I sve je na šest oficijalnih jezika Ujedinjenih Nacija. Povezaćemo se globalno sa vladama, vladinim organizacijama, ne-vladinim organizacijama, edukacionim, unijama, sportskim (organizacijama). Ovde možete da vidite edukacionu kocku. Trenutno Imamo sredstva u 174 zemlje gde pokušavamo da pretvorimo mlade ljude u pokretačku snagu koja stoji iza vizije globalnog primirja. Svakako očuvanje života je povećano i koncept je od pomoći.
Linking up with the Olympics -- I went and saw Seb Coe. I said, "London 2012 is about truce. Ultimately, that's what it's about." Why don't we all team up? Why don't we bring truce to life? Why don't you support the process of the largest ever global truce? We'll make a new film about this process. We'll utilize sport and football. On the Day of Peace, there's thousands of football matches all played, from the favelas of Brazil to wherever it might be. So, utilizing all of these ways to inspire individual action. And ultimately, we have to try that. We have to work together.
Povezivanje sa Olimpijskim igrama -- Išao sam da se nađem sa Seb Coe. Rekao sam, "London 2012 se bazira na primirju. Na kraju, to je suština". Zašto se ne udružimo? Zašto da ne oživimo ideju o primirju? Zašto ne biste pomogli najveći ikad proces stvaranja globalnog primirja? Napravićemo novi film o ovom procesu. Iskoristićemo sport i fudbal. Na Dan Mira, igraju se hiljade fudbalskih mečeva, od favela u Brazilu do gde god je moguće. Tako da treba iskoristiti sve ove načine koji inspirisu akcije pojedinaca. Na kraju, moramo probati. Moramo raditi zajedno.
And when I stand here in front of all of you, and the people who will watch these things, I'm excited, on behalf of everybody I've met, that there is a possibility that our world could unite, that we could come together as one, that we could lift the level of consciousness around the fundamental issues, brought about by individuals. I was with Brahimi, Ambassador Brahimi. I think he's one of the most incredible men in relation to international politics -- in Afghanistan, in Iraq. He's an amazing man. And I sat with him a few weeks ago. And I said to him, "Mr. Brahimi, is this nuts, going for a global truce? Is this possible? Is it really possible that we could do this?" He said, "It's absolutely possible." I said, "What would you do? Would you go to governments and lobby and use the system?" He said, "No, I'd talk to the individuals." It's all about the individuals. It's all about you and me. It's all about partnerships. It's about your constituencies; it's about your businesses. Because together, by working together, I seriously think we can start to change things.
I sada kada stojim ovde ispred svih vas, i ljudi koji će gledati ove stvari, uzbuđen sam, u ime svih sa kojima sam se nalazio, da postoji mogućnost da se naš svet ujedini, da bi mogli da postanemo jedan, i da bi mogli da podignemo nivo svesti oko fundamentalnih problema, nastalih oko pojedinaca. Bio sam sa Brahimijem, ambasadorom Brahimijem. Mislim da je jedan od najneverovatnijih ljudi u vezi sa međunarodnom politikom -- u Afganistanu, u Iraku. On je neverovatan čovek. Našao sam se sa njim pre nekoliko nedelja. I rekao sam mu, "Gospodine Brahimi, jel ovo ludost, pokušati sa globalnim primirjem? Jel to moguće? Jel zaista moguće da ovo uradimo?" On kaže, "Apsolutno je moguće". Ja mu kažem, "Šta biste vi radili? Jel biste išli u vlade i lobirali i koristili sistem?" On kaže, "Ne, pričao bi sa pojedincima". Sve je u pojedincima. Sve je u tebi i meni. Sve je u partnerstvu. Sve u tvojim pristalicama, sve je do onoga što ti radiš. Jer zajedno, ako radimo zajedno, ja iskreno mislim da možemo početi da menjamo stvari.
And there's a wonderful man sitting in this audience, and I don't know where he is, who said to me a few days ago -- because I did a little rehearsal -- and he said, "I've been thinking about this day and imagining it as a square with 365 squares, and one of them is white." And it then made me think about a glass of water, which is clear. If you put one drop, one drop of something, in that water, it'll change it forever.
Tu je jedan fantastičan čovek u publici, ne znam gde je, koji mi je rekao pre par dana --zato što sam pravio malu probu -- i on mi kaže, "Razmišljao sam o ovom danu i zamišljao ga kao kvadrat sa 365 kvadrata, i jedan od njih je beo". To me je navelo da razmišljam o čaši vode, koja je čista. Ako sipate jednu kap, samo jednu kap u tu vodu, promeniće je zauvek.
By working together, we can create peace one day. Thank you TED. Thank you.
Ako radimo zajedno, stvorićemo mir jednog dana. Hvala TED-u. Hvala vama.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
Thank you.
Hvala.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
Thanks a lot.
Hvala puno.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
Thank you very much. Thank you.
Hvala vam puno. Hvala.