He urged both the state and peace actors not to rest on their oars but continue to work and be proactive in managing conflicts rather than wait for issues to get out of hand before intervening.

The director also said the peace and harmony being enjoyed by the people must jealously be guarded by all and sundry to propel the area to growth to improve living conditions.

Delivering a keynote address on “Unity and Diversity — The role of the youth in promoting peace in Dagbon and beyond” during a peace forum organised by Youth Office of the Catholic Diocese of Yendi, Mr. Kassim indicated that it was the core responsibility of state actors and civil society organisations (CSOs) to organise such fora as a preventive mechanism to deal with potential threats that were likely to disturb the peace of the area.

The forum — held at the Saint Martins Pastoral Centre in Sunson of Yendi Municipality — was organised with support from the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), through its Sahel Peace Initiative (SPI) project, for 150 youth drawn from Yendi, Bimbilla, Saboba, Tatale and Chereponi, and was attended by the Yendi Peace Centre, Justice and Peace Commission, among others.

Mr. Kassim said the effort was a step in the right direction and prayed that it would become a regular feature on the calendar of the municipality.

He said more of such programmes should be organised to remind the youth in particular and the people about the need to consolidate the peace in Dagbon and to deal with early warning signs of conflict in the society.

Feel of unity

The Executive Vice-President of the CRS, Mrs. Candace Osunsade, said the forum had brought a feel of unity that should be allowed to flourish beyond the meeting.

She urged the people to embrace the peace and to love one another, indicating that the organisation was in Ghana to support sustainable peace to enable the youth to develop.

She said the future was for the youth, and that the forum had provided the assurance of sustainable peace among the people.

The Diocesan Youth Chaplain, Reverend Father Abraham Wunbiyeli, in his welcome address, indicated that the problem of the youth in the Catholic Diocese of Yendi was not different from their counterparts elsewhere in the country.

Challenges

Rev. Fr Wunbiyeli said poverty, high illiteracy rate, HIV/AIDS, drug peddling/pushing, prostitution, pornography, teenage pregnancy and abortion, occultism and witchcraft mentality had emerged as key issues needing urgent response among the youth.

He said in the light of the many challenges, the youth had to stand in solidarity with affected persons and work tirelessly to address the issues for the good of their societies.

The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Yendi, Bishop Vincent Sowah Boi-Nai, appealed to the CRS to support the Yendi Peace Centre and Office of the Youth Chaplain, to organise more peace fora for the youth associations in the eastern corridor to disabuse their minds of potential tribal conflicts.

He said that would sustain the peace and harmony of the area and added that the youth needed employment, and therefore urged them to avail themselves of opportunities in agriculture especially, to generate income for themselves and their families.