The Upper East Regional Peace Advisory Council (UERPAC) on Thursday commended the people of the Region for the peaceful manner they conducted themselves during last December general election.
Mrs. Margaret Issaka, spokeswoman of the Council, told a media briefing in Bolgatanga that, contrary to pre-election fears of possible violence during the polls, the people had proved to the whole world that they could resolve their differences through non-violence means.
She urged the people to deepen the peace for the accelerated development of the Region.
The UERPAC seeks to develop a conflict prevention framework that would monitor, report, and offer indigenous understanding and solutions to conflicts in Ghana and to promote national and inter-group understanding about the values of reconciliation, tolerance, mediation and dialogue.
Mrs Issaka said in pursuit of goals of the peace council, the capacity of chiefs, women and youth groups, civil society, community organization and other public institutions would be enhanced to enable them participate meaningfully in promoting peace.
A member of the regional peace council, who is also the regional chairman of the Ghana Journalist Association, Mr. Mohammed Nurideen Issahaq, appealed to the Government to adequately resource peace councils to enable them to discharge their duties effectively.
"It costs less to prevent conflicts at the early stages than to allow them to escalate. Peace councils therefore need to be properly resourced to enable them to prevent the outbreak of conflicts before they get out of hand," he added.
Mr. Issahaq also suggested to District Assemblies to use part of their Common fund in creating jobs for the people, especially the youth, to prevent them from becoming pawns that would be used to perpetrate violence.
Other members of the council urged the elites to use their knowledge to nurture the youth to become responsible citizens.
The Regional Peace Promoter, Mr. Nicholas N. Nayembil, said plans were far advanced to open peace council offices at the district levels.