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Ecowas Seeks US Support for Training of Standby Force

This Day (Lagos)
NEWS
December 13, 2006
Posted to the web December 13, 2006

By Andy Ekugo
Abuja
The Executive Secretary of ECOWAS, Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, has called for
additional training support from the United States for the ECOWAS Standby Force
(ESF) to improve its capacity to perform Peace Support Operations (PSO).
Chambas said this during a visit to the ECOWAS strategic cell in Abuja for the
ongoing 16-day joint command post exercise involving troops from five Member
States where he praised the US and the other partners who have supported
regional capacity building in peace support operations.
A statement from the Secretariat states that the African Contingency Operations
and Training Assistance Programme (ACOTA) involve command and staff officers
from the ACOTA partner nations comprising of Benin, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and
Senegal.
There are also officials from the ACOTA programme office of the United States
European Command, Northrop Grumman Company, ECOWAS Secretariat and the Kofi
Annan International Peacekeeping Centre (KAIPTC) in Accra, Ghana. According to
Chambas "We look forward to many more of such trainings to prepare us better
for peace support operations". .
The cell is linked by an integrated telecommunications network to the
participating units in the various countries and the task force headquarters of
the ESF, which has relocated from Abuja to the KAIPTC for the exercise. The
task force component of the ESF, comprising 1,500 troops, is expected to be
ready for deployment by 2008 while the remaining 5,000 comprising the main
Brigade should be ready by 2010 in line with the African Union timeline for the
operationalisation of regional standby forces.
While hailing the exercise, which stimulates a realistic conflict situation, as
a welcome preparation for the region, he also described peace, security and
stability as critical platforms for development as it would provide the
environment for the region to harness its huge potentials, deploying them for
improving the quality of life of its citizens. Participating troops also
include air force, civilian, police and naval personnel. The exercise will end
on Thursday, 14th December 2006.


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