Delegates from member states of the Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF) are meeting in Bujumbura, Burundi, in an Initial Planning Conference (IPC) for a Command Post Exercise (CPX) to be conducted in Sudan, this year.

The week-long meeting is scheduled to end Friday.
"The aim of the IPC is to develop the key exercise documents and to mobilize member states contributions to the training audience and exercise control staff,” Army and Defence Spokesman, Lt. Col. Jill Rutaremara, said.

Participants include military, police and civilian delegates from each of the EASF member states; the EASF Coordination Mechanism Staff and members of the Planning Element based in Nairobi, Kenya.

There are also development partners’ representatives who offer technical and financial support to the EASF, according to Rutaremara.

The Bujumbura meeting follows a decision of the Council of Ministers of the EASF who met in Bujumbura from December 3-4, last year, and approved the EASF Calendar of Activities.

EASF member states include Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda
It is composed of standby multidisciplinary contingents, with civilian, police and military components in their countries of origin and ready for rapid deployment at appropriate notice.

The EASF is part of the African Standby Force (ASF) which falls under the African Union (AU).

Its establishment, in 2004, followed the ratification of the AU Peace and Security Protocol in 2002.

The objective of the EASF is to carry out, in a timely manner, the functions of maintenance of peace and security, as mandated by the AU Peace and Security Council.

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