Madam Justina Owusu-Banahene, the Bono Regional Minister, has praised the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for its continuous support to strengthening the prevailing peace in the region.
She, however, said the region needed more support from the United Nations agency to help tackle developmental challenges, including some protracted chieftaincy disputes, threatening the peace of the region.
Mad. Owusu-Banahene gave the commendation when the newly reconstituted Regional Peace Council (NPC) paid a courtesy call on her at the residency in Sunyani.
With support from the UNDP, the region reconstituted and inaugurated the 13-member NPC chaired by Professor Mrs. Mercy Afua Adutwumaa Derkyi, Senior Lecturer, University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR).
The membership comprises representatives from academia, traditional authorities, religious bodies, civil society and the Bono Regional Coordinating Council (BRCC).
Among other duties, it offers advice to the BRCC and the Regional Security Council in relation to conflict prevention, management, resolution and building sustainable peace in the region and mediates in conflicts that are likely to erupt into violence.
Mad. Owusu-Banahene said the government acknowledged and appreciated the immeasurable contributions of the nation’s development partners, and the UNDP, in particular, saying “we need more support from the UNDP to build and strengthen the peace of the region”.
She also asked the Council to collaborate with the Judicial Committee of the Bono Regional House of Chiefs and other key stakeholders, identify and address pertinent issues that had the potential to disturb the peace of the region.
The Regional Minister expressed concern about the get-rich-quick syndrome as well as acts of immorality among the youth in the region and asked the Council to help address those issues as well.
Prof. Derkyi said sustained peace remained prerequisite for sustainable development and gave the assurance that the Council would be more proactive to achieve its mandate, saying the NPC needed the support and cooperation of the BRCC in the course of their duties.
Earlier, Alhaji Suallah Abdallah Quandah, the Bono Regional Executive Secretary of the NPC expressed appreciation to the UNDP and the BRCC for their assistance to the Council.
