Women urged to inculcate good moral practices in children to ensure peace

Wa, June 4, Ghanadot/GNA – Mr. Mahmud Khalid, Upper West Regional Minister, has advised women to teach children good moral practices, to help promote peaceful co-existence and sustainable peace in the communities.

He said women as mothers, have a cardinal role in raising children and so must make sure they preach virtues such as love and care for people to their children, and encourage them to put them into practice when they grow up to secure peace for the people.

Mr. Khalid gave the advice at an inter-regional peace makers’ trainers’ workshop in Wa, aimed at developing mechanisms to help reduce conflicts in the north.

He said it was a common knowledge that violent conflicts had led to loss of lives and property, and also retarded development, with women suffering the most in such situations.

Mr. Khalid therefore appealed to traditional authorities to involve women in peace making process, saying: “Society should desist from limiting women to culturally cut-out roles.”

He advised people involved in conflict situations to resort to laid down procedures to seek redress to their grievances.

“Let us avoid taking the law into our hands by employing unconventional and violent ways of ironing out our differences,” Mr. Khalid advised.

He called on stakeholders such as the Regional Peace Advisory Councils, religious bodies and security agencies as well as traditional rulers and other influential individuals not to see their roles as a game of competition, but to collaborate among themselves in their quest to promote sustainable peace in the north.

“Sustainable peace can only be achieved if we resolve first to live in harmony and seek peaceful co-existence as a way of life,” Mr. Khalid pointed out.

He said violent conflicts had contributed immensely to the underdevelopment situation in the north and appealed to the people to give peace a chance to help promote sustainable livelihoods to reduce poverty.

Mr. Khalid said government was committed to providing support for any peace effort and initiative, because it was aware that its efforts of developing the north would come to naught if there was no peace in the communities.

The Regional Minister appealed to the women to be equally worried about the endemic HIV/AIDS in the communities and urged them to help educate the youth to stem its spread.

Madam Cate A. Bob-Milliar, Upper West Regional Director of the Department of Women, said conflict in any form increases the level of violence against women, which affects every part of their lives.

She said efforts must be made to generate the culture of peace by reducing all manner of conflicts to the barest minimum and their consequences on human lives.

The women, drawn from peace makers clubs in the Upper West, Upper East and Northern Regions were taken through “Human rights and women rights” as well as “Active non-violent” and “peace building techniques” among others.

GNA



 

Mills releases first list of cabinet

Accra, Jan. 22, Ghanadot/GNA – President John Evans Atta Mills on Thursday named five MPs as he released his first set of 10 nominees for ministries. A sixth nominee, Collins Dauda, is the parliamentary ....More
 

VRA boss sacked, Kweku Awotwi takes over

Accra, June 5, Ghanadot - Information reaching GhanaDot indicates that Owura Kwaku Sarfo, Managing Director of the Volta River Authority has been relieved of his position.....More