The Upper East Regional Minister Mark Woyongo and four others including the Arch Bishop of the Action Chapel Int, Nicholas Duncan Williams, Mrs. Gifty Afenyi Dadzie, and Dr. Raphael Oga Oko and Mr. Seye Kehendi from Nigeria have been nominated by the African Centre for Peace Building for its Africa Peace Awards. All five will be decorated with special awards at a ceremony set to take place on July 1st at the Mensvic Grand Hotel in Accra. The awards ceremony forms part of the week-long Africa Peace Festival that will take place in Accra from June 30 to July 7. The nomination of the five according to Korsi Senyo, Executive Director of AFCOPB, was “based on their extraordinary efforts in promoting peace and development in their regions and countries with its total impact on peace and development of Africa”. “The Africa Peace Awards is non-monetary award that honors distinguished individuals or organizations who have exhibited exceptional leadership in bringing peace, fostering reconciliation, solidarity, alleviation of poverty, preservation of the environment, promoting interfaith harmony, promoting human right and peaceful co-existence in our societies,” he added. The awards come at a time when there has been a consistent call for a relatively stable environment in the region. The organizers are hoping that the award to these individuals, will serve as a motivation to their peers,” Gilbert Boakye-Nhyira, Public Relations Coordinator of the event has said. Series of activities including an International Peace Conference with Call for Papers, Peace Concert, Business and NGO Executives Conference, Peace Education Workshop, Youth Leadership Workshop, Exhibitions, and Peace Durbar, to highlight the importance of peace in the sub-region, and the need to safeguard the relatively stable environment in the continent, will make up the week-long event. The Africa Peace Festival Secretariat was instituted by the African Centre for Peace Building as an executive body for its Africa Peace Festival project. “The purpose of the Secretariat is to develop the concept for the project, serve as a focal point of information, manage, budget, liaise with partners, donors and key participants, delegate responsibilities to supporting staff and serve other outreach, administrative, organizational and financial tasks as needed,” Korsi Senyo said. The week-long festival will bring together over one thousand participants spread across civil society, the business community, academia, media, and diplomats from across the globe. The festival is being organized in partnership with Global Educators for All Initiatives, Nigeria, Uniting for Peace-UK, Climax Travel and Tours-Nigeria, Savana Signatures-Ghana with support from over 30 organizations worldwide including the Ministry of Tourism-Ghana, Action Chapel International, Dominion University College and sponsored by ddp, Hitz FM and Focus FM.