From January 2016, the African Standby Force (ASF) will be
able to intervene in cases of war crimes, genocide or crimes against humanity
if an African Union member state requests assistance or if the AU itself
considers the situation serious enough. This multidisciplinary force will be
made up of five brigades - each with police, military and civilian components
that could be deployed within 14 days in their own regions. The Cameroonian
city of Douala will host the logistics base, where equipment will be stored,
but the ultimate power remains in Addis Ababa, at the AU headquarters in the
Ethiopian capital.
At the moment, 5,000 troops from around the continent are
taking part in an ASF field training exercise in South Africa to help evaluate
how ready the force is to deploy. The number of personnel is expected to rise
to 25,000 by the time the force is operational in January. The AU says it still
needs $1bn (£650m) to properly finance the force. Without donor support it will
be difficult for a mission to actually be deployed.
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