ETHIOPIA: No time like the present for the AU to escalate an Africa Standby Force, analyst.

Record ID: 459480

  • Title: ETHIOPIA: No time like the present for the AU to escalate an Africa Standby Force, analyst.
  • Date: 28th January 2014
  • Summary: ADDIS, ABABA ETHIOPIA (JANUARY 25, 2014) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. SOLOMON AYELE DERSSO, SENIOR RESEARCHER, ISS AFRICA, SAYING: "The vacuum that AU member states left laid France to come in to the "rescue of" its former colonial countries and if anything this is also to be blamed on African states who because of lack of resolve, because of division between themselves and because of failure to deploy troops rapidly, allowed the vacuum to emerge." DERSSO'S HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. SOLOMON AYELE DERSSO, SENIOR RESEARCHER, ISS AFRICA, SAYING: "It obviously would give France the opportunity to strengthen its influence and its role in these parts of Africa and it also obviously gives France... it reinforces its status at the global level." PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SOUTH AFRICAN SOLDIERS HANGING FROM A HELICOPTER DURING MILITARY TRAINING EXHIBITIONS
  • Embargoed: 12th February 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa, Ethiopia, Somalia
  • City:
  • Country: Ethiopia
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA93ZTTJE1VROO8JK1ZGZ7FN1UD
  • Story Text: African heads of state meet in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia this week for an African Union (AU) summit whose theme of agriculture and food security is likely to be overshadowed by discussions around crises in South Sudan and the Central African Republic.
    Fighting between rebel and government forces since mid-December, the worst in South Sudan since it won its independence from Sudan in 2011, has killed thousands of people and driven more than half a million from their homes.
    In CAR, almost one million people, or a quarter of the population, have been displaced by fighting since the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel movement seized power in the majority Christian country last March, unleashing a wave of killing and looting.
    With the coup and subsequent drawn out crisis in Mali still fresh in their minds and a constantly volatile situation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, analysts say its time African leaders implement the long delayed African Standby Force (ASF) to solve some of this problems for themselves.
    Plans for a military force for Africa have been around since AU predecessor the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was formed over 50 years ago.
    The AU backed ASF operation was planned for 2008, pushed to 2010, then 2013 and now to 2015.
    Security experts doubt that the force will be operational by then, partly due to lack of political and financial will.

    "The ASF can become operational only if there are a good number of countries who are willing to provide leadership and to commit the necessary personnel as well as the necessary resources for bringing the African Standby Force into action, into operation and for mobilizing the rest of the membership to commit and indeed make whatever contribution that they can. So these countries with the capacity and these countries with the resources should be able to provide leadership and at the moment we are not witnessing that kind of leadership," said Dr. Solomon Ayele Dersso, senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Africa.
    More than 90 percent of the AU's peace and security efforts, including its AMISOM mission in Somalia, are funded by external actors such as the European Union and United States.
    The AU says funding for the ASF would come from the individual countries supplying troops and equipment.
    While the AU shows itself hesitant and slow-moving in its response to conflicts, critics say it has allowed Western governments to take lead roles.
    France sent in 1,600 troops to its former colony CAR last month to help stop the massacres, and was instrumental in convincing the EU to bolster that force with up to 1000 troops in the regional body's first major army operation in six years.
    Analysts say the influence of France, which also intervened in Mali is growing and there is bound to be a long term political effect of that.

    "The vacuum that AU member states left laid France to come in to the "rescue of" its former colonial countries and if anything this is also to be blamed on African states who because of lack of resolve, because of division between themselves and because of failure to deploy troops rapidly, allowed the vacuum to emerge," said Dr. Dersso.

    "It obviously would give France the opportunity to strengthen its influence and its role in these parts of Africa and it also obviously gives France... it reinforces its status at the global level," he added.
    While Africa may not have the will, financing or equipment to rapidly put boots on the ground in the form of the ASF, troops from various countries have been deploying to countries in crisis like Somalia where African peacekeepers and government force have pushed Islamist rebels out of the capital Mogadishu, heralding a period of relative peace that allowed the election of a new government.
    There are already AU force on the ground in CAR with plans for an increase to 6000 troops.
    Analysts say now more than ever, when gains have been made in establishing AU's strength to intervene in crises across the continent the standby force should top the agenda at the meeting in Addis Ababa, whichon January 31.
    The components that would make it an effective force however, will take a longer time to take form.

    "We need to have a committed military police and civilian personnel that can be easily made available at the disposal of the African Union whenever the African Union wishes to deploy peacekeeping operation or intervention to deal with a particular crisis. I think this is the first criteria. The second one is that these police, civilian and military personnel need to possess the required level of knowledge and skill on African Union peacekeeping or peace support operations doctrine and they have to have the same standard in terms of their skills and operation capability," said Dr. Dersso.
    The AU needs to start by redesigning ASF according to to the capacity of its contributing members and the "evolving nature" of African conflicts, according to a recent ISS report.
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