This year’s winner of the Martin Luther King Jnr Award for Peace and Social Justice says the award has stimulated the urge to promote peace in conflict zones in the regions up north.

Afi Azaratu Yakubu who is the founder of the Women United Against Conflict and the Savanna Women Development Foundation, an NGO, received the award for, among other things, her intervention in ethnic conflicts in the North.

The United States Embassy in Ghana has presented this award annually since 2008 to reward Ghanaians who personify the philosophy and actions of Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

Ambassador Gene Cretz in an interview with XYZ News said he is delighted at the extent of development of civil societies in Ghana.

The award winner, Afi Azaratu Yakubu said the award has motivated her to do more to reduce threats to human safety and security in Ghana.

“I think that this award particularly is very important because it has put me on a pedestal that I never imagined and it has given me the recognition, profile and has brought a lot of attention to me.

“It means that what I have been doing has been acknowledged”.