Kigali, 16 December 2020

The Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF) Chiefs of Defence and Security meeting has opened in Kigali as part of the 28th Ordinary Session of the EASF Policy Organs Meetings (POM) hosted by Rwanda from 14th to 18th December 2020.

The aim of the above-mentioned five-day meetings is to draft a Concept on Countering Asymmetric Threats, a global phenomenon that poses a regional and international security threat.

The Chiefs of Defence and Security meeting was officially opened by Rwanda Defence Force Army Chief of Staff, Lt Gen Jean Jacques Mupenzi. In his opening remarks, he noted that the region continues to face challenges of conflict that impact peace and stability in some of member states. “Acts of violence, terrorism and violent extremism, particularly in the Horn of Africa and Eastern DRC, continue impacting the region and call for concerted effort”.

“For EASF to realise its goals, we need to match our stated commitment of promoting African solutions to African problems, with an equal commitment to mobilize more resources from within the continent than we do today, in order to give a concrete meaning to the leadership and ownership of the organization,” Lt Gen Mupenzi said.

The EASF Director, Brig Gen Getachew Shiferaw Fayisa emphasized that the EASF Organisation after having achieved full operational capability (FOC) since 2014, “one of our key activities for the next five years strategic plan will be to maintain the force readiness and focus on preventing conflicts in the region” he said.
The EASF CDS meeting will be followed by the Council of Ministers of Defence and Security meeting which is the last of the 28th Ordinary Session of Policy Organs Meetings.

END