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Mrs Lucy Awuni, Upper East Deputy Regional Minister, has called on people in the three Northern Regions to use their cultural diversity to promote development. She said the differences in their culture should not be seen as a source of conflict. The Deputy Minister made the call during the launch of a Sustainable Peace Initiative (SPI) project by the Centre for National Culture (CNC) in Bolgatanga. It was under the theme: "Unity in Ethnic Diversity for the Total Development of Upper East Region". The SPI project sponsored by the Netherlands Government is to use Drama and Music as means of resolving conflicts in the three Northern Regions. The Minister explained that there were positive benefits that could be derived from cultural diversity and added that if it was repackage and showcased to the world, it would promote tourism. "It is crucially important for us to burry these trivial differences that divide us and rather focus much of our attention on the commonalities that will foster unity among us for our overall development", she emphasized. Mrs Awuni said history had it that all the ethnic groups within the three Northern Regions came from a common ancestry lineage. She said as society grew, conflict was bound to happen but dialogue should be the weapon to address issues as soon as they occurred. Mrs Awuni called on the CNC to implement the project well for it to have a greater impact on addressing conflicts. The Municipal Chief Executive of Bolgatanga, Mr Epsona Ayamga, pledged the Assembly's support to the project and said it would support the CNC to ensure that the project trickled down to the communities. He said resources that could have been used for development were rather being used for peace operations and cited Bawku conflicts as an example and added that no investor would invest in conflict areas. A leading member of the Regional Peace Council, Mrs Margaret Mary Issahaka urged religious and traditional leaders to add peace programmes to the celebration of their festivals. She called on politicians and the youth to join the crusade, saying everybody owned it as a duty to help promote peace and unity in the area. The Regional Director of the CNC, Naa Luciano Tungbani, repeated that using drama, dance, musical concerts and durbars to spread the message of peace were more effective. He said they would focus seriously in Bawku and other troubled spots in the region.