The East African Standby Force (EASF) has convened in Uganda for a three-day conference with key stakeholders from Early Warning agencies. The conference aims to enhance regional collaboration on conflict prevention and resolution, improve situational awareness, and develop a coordinated response to emerging threats and crises, particularly within Uganda.
This meeting in Kampala follows a previous gathering in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where Uganda played a crucial role in establishing a collaborative framework among member states to effectively implement early warning mechanisms. The framework, designed to enhance the Early Warning System’s functionality across the region, received endorsement from the region’s Policy Organs, including the Chiefs of Defence Forces and the Ministers of Defence and Security.
At the event held at Hotel Africana, Brig. Gen. Richard Karemire, representing the Chief of Joint Staff, highlighted the meeting as a testament to the unified commitment of member states towards conflict prevention and fostering a culture of peacebuilding in the region. He emphasized the importance of early warning systems in mitigating risks from disasters by providing advance notice, enabling communities, organizations, and states to take measures to minimize or deter dangers. Brig. Gen. Karemire acknowledged the significant progress made by the EASF Department of Peace Operations in developing an integrated early warning response system and collaboration framework with member states.
He further underscored the need for timely information sharing and the adoption of best practices in early warning systems to promote peace and reduce violence. He called for investment in advanced technologies to strengthen early warning capabilities, support secure information exchange, and enable rapid responses to challenges such as drought, crop failures, and famine, which can trigger conflicts.
Brig. Gen. Karemire stressed that achieving sustainable peace in East Africa requires collective commitment from all stakeholders and the empowerment of local communities where conflicts often arise. He advocated for a proactive approach, drawing on diverse expertise and shared experiences to preemptively address challenges.
Brig. Gen. Domitien Kabisa, Head of Peace Support Operations at the EASF Secretariat in Nairobi, described the meeting as a pivotal step towards the 2024 goal of enhancing collaboration between the EASF Early Warning System and member states’ systems to bolster conflict prevention capabilities and enable timely responses to regional security issues. He reiterated the importance of regional cooperation in improving the capacity to predict, prevent, and manage tensions, thereby averting violent conflicts in light of the region’s complex history of strife.
Brig. Gen. Kabisa also noted that strengthening collaboration between member states’ early warning systems would help identify early indicators of violent conflict and ensure timely interventions to prevent such violence from escalating.
The Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF) is a regional peace and security mechanism operating within the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA). It derives its legitimacy from Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter, Article IV of the African Union Constitutive Act, and Article XIII of the Protocol establishing the AU Peace and Security Council. The EASF’s mandate is to promote peace and security in the Eastern Africa region through preventive diplomacy and conflict resolution. A key component of the EASF is its Early Warning System (EWS), which seeks to proactively address conflicts and crises in the region.
The EASF comprises ten member states: Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Seychelles, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda.
Among the attendees were Mr. Leodinous Mwebembezi, Assistant Commissioner at the Ministry of Water and Environment; Lt. Col. Henry Kyobe, Head of the Incident Management Team at the Ministry of Health; Lt. Col. Lillian Shigoli (KDF), EASF Legal Advisor; ACP Florence Kirabira, Coordinator for Small Arms and Light Weapons/Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanisms at the Ministry of Internal Affairs; and Mr. Enyimu William, Principal Human Resource Officer at the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs, among others.
