Ministers for Defence and Chiefs of Defence Staff from the region will convene in Kigali starting today for the Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF) meetings for policy organs.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Defence, the officials will be meeting for the 12 ordinary policy organs meetings which will be held under the theme: "Eastern Africa Standby Force towards Full Operational Capability”.

"These four-day meetings follow the decision of the EASF Assembly of Heads of State held on June 26 in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, on the sidelines of the AU Summit, to fast-track EASF full operational capacity by December 2014,” the statement reads in part.

For the first time, the EASF meetings will be attended by police chiefs and foreign affairs ministers of partner states.

For the past ten years, the regional force has been preparing a multi-dimensional force by building capacity in the military, police and civilian components to address security threats and challenges in the region.

Rwanda is the Chair of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of Eastern Africa Region, Council of Ministers for Defence and Security of Eastern Africa, and the Committee of Eastern Africa of Chiefs of Defence Staff and Security.

Established in 2004 with the primary mandate to enhance peace and security in the region, EASF draws its membership from ten countries; Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.