The United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator in Ghana, Charles Abani, has advised the citizenry not to take the peace prevailing in the country for granted because it has dire consequences.

He said there were countries who through complacency had experienced the consequences of taking their peaceful state for granted which had stagnated their socioeconomic development.

“I have often said Ghana is such a peaceful place, but please do not take this peace for granted because there are many countries in the region who know the consequences of taking their peace for granted,” Mr Abani cautioned.

He gave the advice at the commemoration of the 2021 International Day of Peace in Accra which was organised by the National Peace Council (NPC) and United Nations Ghana with support from United Nations Education Scientific Culture Organisation (UNESCO) which was on the theme: ‘Recovering Better for an Equitable and Sustainable World’.

Mr Abani observed that peace was fundamental to everything and was rocket fuel of development but absence stagnated socioeconomic development.

“A peaceful society promotes justice and equality which ensure systems that facilitate stable peaceful architecture and the government appreciates peace and I commend stakeholders for efforts towards the promotion of peace before, during and after the 2020 elections,” heindicated.

Reverend Dr Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, Chairman of NPC, noted that it was collective duty of citizens to protect peace prevailing and appealed to them to report suspicious activity to relevant law enforcement agencies for action to be taken.

He indicated that issue of unemployment and dwindling opportunities for the youth needed attention from Ghanaians and business community to create more job opportunities for them and not become vulnerable to insurgents who lurked around to foment violence.

“The government’s Free Senior High School policy must be encouraged, assisted and supported by peace-loving people in and outside the country, to get majority of the youth educated with knowledge and skills to take up opportunities that beckoned them and endeavoured to create opportunities since they equally have responsibility to train themselves, respect leaders and authorities,” Rev. Adu-Gyamfi proffered.

Nana Dr S. K. B. Asante, representative of National House of Chiefs, intimated that traditional rulers played critical role in peace architecture, by acting as agents of peace in rural areas by adjudicating over disputes and saw to it that conflicts in vicinities were curbed.