KABUL, Afghanistan -- Actor Jude Law is visiting Afghanistan to promote peace in the war-ravaged country.

Together with director Jeremy Gilley, the Oscar-nominated Law has returned to Afghanistan to help maintain momentum for Peace Day -- an annual day on Sept. 21 urging a global cease-fire and nonviolence.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted Peace Day in 2001, following a lobbying campaign by Gilley, which he documented in the film "Peace One Day."

"When I left Kabul last year, I was hugely moved not by the conflict that I have read so much about, but by the people's courage and the people's sense of hope," Law told reporters in Kabul yesterday.

"It seemed that they really want to make this day, the Peace Day, work. And they did," Law said. "People recognize the day, because they recognize that lives could be saved."

Law and Gilley, who arrived in Kabul on Sunday, are to meet President Hamid Karzai, top NATO and U.N. officials, and members of the aid community.

Last year, they traveled and filmed in treacherous areas of Eastern Afghanistan to help promote the day, on which they hope weapons will fall silent, allowing help to reach those most in need.

The visit coincides with one of Afghanistan's most violent periods since the ouster of the Taliban from power in 2001. More than 3,700 people -- mostly militants -- have died as a result of the war this year.

Law said that even as Kabul has become more dangerous, hope among its people has remained surprisingly high.

If "it is possible here, it is possible everywhere," Gilley said.

Associated Press writer Rahim Faiez contributed to this report.