Seychelles participates in 18th Ordinary Council of Ministers of Defence and Security of Eastern Africa Standby Force Policy Organs Meeting held in Moroni

Secretary of State Ambassador Barry Faure represented President Michel, Minister of Defence of Seychelles, at the 18th Ordinary Council of Ministers of? Defence and Security of Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF) Policy Organs Meeting, held in Moroni, Comoros, on 7th February 2015.
Ambassador Faure has stated that EASF has entered? into a new chapter in its development since it achieved Full Operational Capacity in November 2014. In line with the African Peace and Security Architecture programs and African Union roadmaps, the EASF is now expected to be ready to deploy its 5200 forces which all 10 member states of the East African Region, including Seychelles, have pledged. This implies that every state needs to be prepared to deploy the numbers of military, police and civilian staff that it has pledged.
The ministerial meeting in Comoros, whose opening ceremony was presided by President Ikililou Dhoinine of the Union of Comoros, thus applauded the successful conduct of the Command Post Exercise code named Mashariki Salami 2014 held in Ethiopia, and discussed strategies and considered measures to enable the Standby Force to effectively undertake operations. Conscious of the need to secure finances for the Force, the meeting decided that member states should take greater ownership of its finances by agreeing on new rates for members’ contributions, as well as decided on holding a Donors’ Conference as soon as possible in Kigali.
It should be noted that Rwanda currently holds the chairmanship of EASF, and Seychelles will take over as of April 2015. Lt. Col George Adeline, new military attaché in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, participated in the preparatory meetings leading to the Council session. In October 2014, Seychelles hosted the EASF’s last policy organs meetings for 2014. Seychelles’ participation in EASF is in line with its foreign policy objective of contributing to collective peace and security efforts.?