Accra, Dec. 13, GNA - The ECOWAS Chiefs of Defence Staff ended their three-day meeting on Friday, December 11, in Freetown, Sierra Leone with the approval of the ECOWAS Standby Force (ESF) Brigade Structure and composition.

The approval, among other things, is expected to boost ECOWAS' participation as a major stakeholder in the AU exercise designed to test the operational readiness of the African Standby Force, which comprised standby forces of the continent's Regional Economic Communities.

A statement issued on Sunday in Abuja by the ECOWAS Commission copied to the Ghana News Agency said the 6,500 ECOWAS Standby Force includes the Main Brigade and a Task Force, which will now deploy in 14 days instead of the 30 days previously planned, in conformity with the African Union standards. Having given only a provisional approval to the Main Brigade Structure and composition at their June, meeting held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, the Defence Chiefs noted that significant progress had been made in establishing the ESF Task Force Headquarters and its units. The progress which was attributed to the first phase of the ESF Operational Framework Roadmap covered the period 2006 to 2009 and included the structure and people, concept, logistics and equipment, communication information system as well as training.

The statement said in consonance with the African Standby Force roadmap, the second phase was expected to consolidate on the achievement so far made and focus on the development of the Main Brigade, which would encompass the military, police and civilian components. The Main Brigade will also reflect the multidisciplinary, multidimensional and multifaceted capabilities of peace support operations. The statement said, while acknowledging the challenge of logistics being faced by Member States, the Defence Chiefs committed themselves to providing the additional logistics units of the Main Brigade's logistics battalion and equip the rapid deployment units with adequate equipment. It said that pledges made by Member States in this regard are expected to be forwarded to the ECOWAS Commission before the next meeting of the Chiefs of Defence Staff which will take place in Benin in 2010 to coincide with that country's military exercise tagged "Cohesion 2010". The Chiefs of Defence Staff also called on ECOWAS partners to support troop-contributing countries, bilaterally or at the regional level, with the provision of equipment for the logistics units.

The Defence Chiefs agreed to consider at their next meeting details on the operations of the Committee of Chiefs of Security Services (CCSS), a body created to develop co-operation among the region's security services, including the police, gendarmerie, customs and immigration services. Since its establishment in May 2009, the CCSS has undertaken to adopt the new structure of the police component of the ECOWAS Standby Force, in tandem with the initiatives of the African Union.

The statement said that the Defence Chiefs also recommended that a delegation of their Committee comprising The Gambia, Guinea Bissau and Senegal, which will head the delegation, be despatched to Conakry in support of the mediation efforts of President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso. They called on the ECOWAS Commission to work more closely with Guinea Bissau to ensure the success of the security sector reforms currently underway in the country.

Among those present at the meeting were representatives of the United Nations Office in West Africa (UNOWA), the Commander of the French Forces in Cape Verde as well as the Deputy Force Commanders of the United Nations Mission in Cote d'Ivoire and the United Nations Mission in Liberia, who briefed the Defence Chiefs on the developments in the two Member States. 13 Dec. 09