President Guelleh Opens EASF Meeting

H. E. Ismail Omar Guelleh President of the Republic of Djibouti officially opened the 19th Ordinary Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Defence and Security of the Eastern Africa region in Djibouti on 17th October 2015.

Speaking during the opening session, President Guelleh stated the motto of the Republic of Djibouti, "Unity, Peace and Equality", and added that without peace and stability, the well-being and development of the people of Africa will not be possible ”.  He noted the fragile security situation in the Eastern Africa region and the need for interdependence among the member states of EASF to provide collective response to conflict and various other threats.

The meeting discussed several issues including the activity plan and the budget for 2016 as well as the proposed peace fund for future deployment of EASF in peace keeping missions.

All the ten EASF member states were represented.