Rwanda Hosts EASF Policy Organs Meetings

Rwanda Hosts Eastern Africa Standby Force Policy Organs Meetings

20 April 2014, Kigali, Rwanda

Press Release

Peace and Security leaders in the Eastern Africa Region will convene in Rwanda, Kigali from 22nd to 25th April 2014, to participate in the 10th Extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers of Defence and Security and the 9th Extraordinary meeting of the Eastern Africa Chiefs of Defence and Security.

The meetings are organised under the theme:

“Eastern Africa Standby Force towards Full Operational Capability”.

These four-day meetings aim at addressing pertinent issues and critical tasks necessary to fast-track and operationalise the Force by December 2014.

For the past ten years, the regional force has been preparing a multidimensional force by building capacity in the Military, Police and Civilian components to address security threats and challenges in the Region. EASF is expected to attain Full Operational Capability (FOC) within the set time frame and subsequently participate in the ongoing Peace Support Operations.

During these Policy Organs Meetings, The Republic of Rwanda will be taking over the chair of the Council of Ministers of Defence and Security of Eastern Africa and the Committee of Eastern Africa of Chiefs of Defence Staff from Kenya.

EASF, which was established in 2004 with the primary mandate of enhancing peace and security in the Region, draws its membership from ten Member States namely Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.

For more information:
Director, EASFCOM