Launching of AMANI AFRICA II Cycle
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, October 26, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Following the successful conduct of the first AMANI AFRICA cycle, culminating in a Command Post Exercise which took place in Addis Ababa, in October 2010, the African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU) have initiated a joint follow‐up training cycle dubbed AMANI AFRICA II. AMANI AFRICA II cycle will be officially launched at the conclusion of the 5th ordinary meeting of the Specialized Technical Committee on Defense, Security and Safety (STCDSS), on 26 October 2011, at 04:00 p.m., at the AU Headquarters, in Addis Ababa. Dr Jean Ping, Chairperson of the Commission, will preside over the ceremony.
The new tri‐annual cycle will capitalize on the capacity already built and the lessons learned
from the first AMANI AFRICA cycle to both contribute towards and validate the operational
readiness of the Africa Standby Force (ASF) by 2015. The ASF is a core element of the
African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), which provides the Peace and Security
Council with the means to respond rapidly to conflict and crisis situations across a range of
scenarios, and conduct interventions as a measure of last resort.
Among the gaps identified during the first training cycle, which AMANI AFRICA II aims to
bridge, was the need to reinforce communication and information flow between the
continental and regional levels of the ASF. It also aims to streamline the regions’ decision
making processes and align their procedures with those at the continental level. Whereas
the first AMANI AFRICA cycle concluded in a simulation Command Post Exercise, the new
training cycle will go further by conducting a fully‐fledged Field Training Exercise at the end
of the cycle.
In addition to the Chairperson and the Commissioner for Peace and Security, the launching
of AMANI AFRICA II cycle will also be attended by representatives of AU Member States, the
Regional Economic Communities/Regional Mechanisms for Conflict Prevention,
Management and Resolution, the European Union, the United Nations and other partners.
SOURCE
African Union Commission (AUC)
