Law visits Afghanistan to promote peace

Jude Law has returned to Afghanistan with filmmaker Jeremy Gilley in an attempt to promote peace in the troubled nation.

The pair's visit comes three weeks before Peace Day on 21 September, an annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence inspired by Gilley's Peace One Day project.

Law and Gilley previously travelled to the war-torn country in 2007, helping UNICEF and the World Health Organisation to promote a mass vaccination against polio of 1.4 million Afghan children.

This year, Gilley will premiere his documentary The Day After Peace on a major Afghan TV station. The film explores the origins and progress of Peace Day, which was formally adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2001 following Gilley's campaigns.

"The extraordinary events in Afghanistan around Peace Day last year set an important precedent," Law explained in a press conference today. "Jeremy and I are returning to the country this year to help keep the momentum going.

"As an ambassador for Peace One Day and as a filmmaker myself, I hope that my involvement will help the project to grow. I'm proud to be part of it."

Gilley added: "The new film The Day After Peace charts the creation of Peace Day and goes on to prove that the day can be used as a focus for life-saving activity."