The Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has activated the process of reviewing the training policy for its standby force with a goal to bolster peace support operations.

To achieve this goal, a review workshop on the draft training policy of the ECOWAS Standby Force (ESF) kicked off on November 30, 2023 in Abuja, Nigeria.

This two-day workshop, which builds on an earlier workshop by experts who reviewed the ESF operational framework, aims to, among other things, enhance the draft ESF training policy by aligning it with that of the African Standby Force while considering the unique characteristics of the ECOWAS Region.

The workshop will also assess the relevance of the various sections of the draft ESF Training Policy to contemporary Peace Support Operations and evolving needs.

Participants in the workshop, who are tasked with ensuring the draft policy is ready for onward validation by the ECOWAS Member States, include experts from the AU, the United Nations, Training Centres of Excellence (TCE)s, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) as well as relevant staff of the Commission led by the Ag Head of the Peace Support Operations Division (PSOD) Dr. Sani Adamu.

Since attaining Full Operational Capacity in 2015, the ECOWAS Standby Force has been engaged in several capability development activities to maintain the operational readiness of the Force.