Mrs Lucy Awuni, Upper East Deputy Regional Minister, has stressed the need for parents and community members to instill in children attributes of peace. Mrs Awuni said this in a speech read on her behalf at a ‘Pro-Peace Cultural Integration Fiesta’ organized by private schools in the Bolgatanga Municipality. She said if attributes of peace were instilled in children at an early age, it would remain part of them as they grew and conflicts would be reduced in the country. She asked school authorities to teach pupils their indigenous culture and let them participate actively in cultural activities especially festivals to promote peace, unity and harmony in the society. Mrs Awuni appealed to the school children to join peace clubs and get involved in peace building activities and encourage their parents not to engage in conflicts. She expressed worry about the protracted Bawku and Dagbon conflicts and said it had affected the academic performance of school children in those areas and could affect their future. She appealed to the feuding factions to stop the violence, adding that the region, one of the poorest, needed peace to progress without which it would continue to lag behind in development. The Chief of Nankong, Nankong-Pio Pe Joseph Banapeh Afagachie II, speaking on the topic; “The Role of Chiefs in the Quest for Peaceful Coexistence,” urged chiefs to play an advocacy role in the peace building process. He urged them to exchange visits to establish good relationship and promote excellent neighbourliness among the communities. The Chief stated that there was the need for chiefs to be empowered and strengthened to enable them to establish strong working relations with the current institutions of government especially in local governance. The Bolgatanga Municipal Cultural Coordinator, Mr Williams Angme Aberi-inga who spoke on behalf of the Regional Director of Education, Mr Fabien Belieb blamed the indiscipline among the youth in schools to the lack of monitoring and supervision and asked parents to collaborate with teachers for good up-bringing of the children. Mr. Kris Josef Akubah, Director of the Great Victory Academy, reiterated that it was very important to imbibe peace in the children when they are young so as to avert future conflicts. He explained that the children and women suffer most in times of conflict hence the need to use the occasion to preach against the Bawku and the Dagbon conflicts. The school children marched for hours on the streets of the Bolgatanga Municipality to register their displeasure at the Dagbon and Bawku conflicts. They carried placards with inscription such as; “Conflict Retards Development,” “Conflicts bring about the closure of Schools,” “Women and Children are the most Victims of Conflict,” and Posterity Would Judge You if you don’t stop the conflict in Bawku and Dagbon." Source: GNA