The Chiefs of Defence Staff of ECOWAS Member States have begun their 25th quarterly meeting in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso to review the security situation in West Africa and further seek means of ensuring stability in the region. They will specifically review the roadmap and structure of the Main Brigade of the ECOWAS Standby Force (ESF MB), in readiness for the African Union deadline of 2010 for which an exercise involving the standby forces of all the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) on the continent has been scheduled to hold early 2010. Code-named “AMANI AFRICA”, the continental exercise will test the operationalization of the African Standby Force (ASF). The Defence Chiefs whose three-day meeting opened on Wednesday, 10th June 2009, will be briefed by the United Nations Force Commanders in Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia on the situation in the two Member States. Also, they will receive briefings on the mission of the ad-hoc committee established by the Defence Chiefs themselves, in support of the defence sector reforms in Guinea Bissau. In addition, the Chiefs of Defence Staff will be briefed on “EMERALD MOVE”, a European amphibious initiative for which over 20 countries are expected to participate when it holds in November 2010 in Senegal and “DUMAGNORE”, an 11-day exercise which started on 10th June 2009. It is being organized by Benin in collaboration with AFRICOM of the United States of America. The Defence Chiefs are also expected to be briefed on the proposed sensitization activities of a military network, which is being facilitated by UNAIDS, to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS in Central and Western Africa, considering the vulnerability of military personnel to sexually transmitted infections. Their meeting will dovetail into the field exercise on Friday, 12th June 2009 in Ouagadougou with the “VIP Day”, a programme that will allow an interactive session, among others, between the participants and top-level officials of the Community and some of its partners. At the opening, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Col. Mahamane Toure, gave an update on the recent developments in the region since the Defence Chiefs’ last meeting in March 2009 in Praia, Cape Verde. He lamented the ugly turn of events in the region, coming after the ratification of the ECOWAS supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance by most Member States. He specifically referred to the developments in such countries as Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger and Togo. Col. Toure however expressed optimism over the return of normalcy in Cote d’Ivoire, where elections have been scheduled to hold on 29th November 2009. He also expressed delight over the setting up of a Committee of Chiefs of Security Services (CCSS) in May 2009 in Dakar. He disclosed that the committee would be expanded to include other technical services such as the Customs and Immigration. In his opening remarks, the Chairman of the Committee of Defence Chiefs, Air Chief Marshall Paul Dike, tasked the meeting to proffer dynamic solutions which are designed to prevent and mitigate crisis situations in the region, noting that regional crises are largely due to social, economic and political factors. While noting that the sustenance of peace and stability is the most important challenge facing the Defence Chiefs, the Chairman described as “timely and desirable”, the on-going field training exercised code-named “JIGUI 2009” near Ouagadougou. Air Chief Marshall Dike said the exercise is a litmus test for the readiness of the ECOWAS Standby Force when it joins the standby forces from the other Regional Economic Communities in a continental exercise in the first quarter of 2010. The Air Chief Marshall recalled the recent violence in Guinea Bissau, saying it was cause for concern to all, and called on the Defence Chiefs, whom he said have been “saddled with the oversight of defence apparatus within the region”, to make contributions that will impact positively on the collective security of ECOWAS Member States. The Minister of Defence of Burkina Faso, Mr. Yero Boly who declared the meeting open, urged the Defence Chiefs to take into account some of the conclusions and recommendations of the third meeting of the Ministers of Defence and Security held 15th May 2009 in Addis Ababa. One of these, he said, was the civilian and police component in the regional standby forces. Source: Uwem THOMPSON