Initial Planning Conference a Great Success

‘The IPC was a great success’ this is how Honorable Youssouf Mohamed Ali, Minister from Union of Comoros described the Initial Planning Conference during an interview with the media in Comoros.

The IPC was officially closed by Honorable Ali on Thursday 1st April, 2021.

During the four days, experts from EASF member states together with EASF staff collectively prepared documents and the proposed budget for the next level of discussions which will be the Main Planning Conference due to take place in a few weeks in the Republic of Kenya, also the designed exercise location to be held later this year.

On his part, the Director of EASF, Brig. Gen. Getachew Fayisa, thanked all the participants, the host nation and the member states for their valuable contributions. Director Fayisa said ‘’May I also take this opportunity to thank the EASF Member States for allowing delegates, to attend this important conference, special thanks to our International consultants who have tirelessly supported and guided us throughout the period of the conference to ensure that we have comprehensive documents that will guide us as we prepare for the exercise. I would like to sincerely thank our Support Partners, particularly APSA, for continuous funding and supporting EASF in capacity development thus helping the region achieve great milestones through the training of personnel and testing the readiness of our forces for mission deployment’’ concluded the EASF Director.

EASF has conducted major training events since 2008 which contributed to the achievement of its Full Operational Capacity (FOC) in 2014. Since then, EASF seeks to consolidate its FOC in line with the AU Roadmap. As part of the continued effort to maintain the EASF FOC and pursuant to the EASF Strategic Plan 2021-2025, EASF is to conduct a Command Post Exercise code named “CPX Mashariki Salaam III 2021” to maintain the operational readiness and enhance interoperability during the Peace Support Operations.

The exercise due to take place in November 2021, will be a culmination of series of training activities aimed at ensuring that EASF and Member States (MS) pledged staff are ready and capable of performing their duties in support of AU/EASF mandated complex PSOs.

The overall objective of “CPX Mashariki Salaam III 2021” is to ensure EASF readiness while contributing to EASF awareness and maintaining regional cohesion.
It is also expected to rehearse and test the training audience on the planning and conduct of a complex Peace Support Operations (PSOs) Mission set within a contemporary environment in accordance with AU scenarios.

According to one of the participants, Dr. Ghads, a civilian from Sudan, the IPC was a great opportunity for her to share her inputs at the very early stage in the planning of the CPX and her proposal is that as much as possible the same experts from MS should be maintained for the follow up conferences to ensure consistency and continuity. Dr. Ghads said that she had an excellent stay in the lovely islands of Comoros.

Photo Gallery: Initial Planning Conference Concludes