The task force component comprises 1,500 of the 6, 500 strong ESF being created for deployment in Peace Support Operations (PSO) as specified under the ,African Union security architecture that requires that regional peacekeeping forces become operational by 2010.
 
The 11-day exercise, which begins on 29th November 2007, will test the deployment and sustainment capabilities of the TF, the Command and Control of the various Headquarters in PSO at the operational and tactical levels and the strategic relationship with partners in the areas of troops lift/deployment, logistics and operational support in the field.
 
Previously an annual bilateral military exercise between France and Senegal, Exercise DEGGO XXVII, this year’s exercise has been expanded at the request of the ECOWAS Standby Force Task Force to enable it gauge its level of preparedness for the likely tasks that could be saddled with at Operational and Tactical Levels in a Peace Support Operations setting.
 
Participating troops will be drawn from the ECOWAS Standby Force Task Force, the Senegalese Armed Forces, the French Forces based in Cape Verde and the armed forces of Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Guinea and Mali.
 
The Chief of Staff for the ESF, General Hassan Lai of Nigeria is leading the forces elements in the exercise.
 
The Exercise, which will be crowned with a Very Important Persons (VIPs) Day on 7 December 2007 will  also include a Civil-Military Enhancement Project which entails the rehabilitation of a well, renovation of an Islamic Women’s School and offering of Medicare to the populace of a village in the area of the Exercise.
 
In another development, the Director of the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery, Ms. Kathleen Cravero, arrives in Freetown today from New York, on a three-day visit to Sierra Leone.
 
While in-country she will meet with relevant senior Government officials, development partners and non-governmental organizations, to discuss emerging issues regarding recovery, crisis prevention and peacebuilding affecting Sierra Leone. The visit of the Director will also serve as an opportunity for her to understand how best UNDP can support national efforts to address these development challenges and contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development goals (MDGs).
 
Ms. Cravero was appointed to the position of Director of UNDP Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR) in April 2005. In this capacity she leads the Bureau in its efforts to mainstream crisis prevention and recovery at all levels of UNDP’s work. The Bureau supports UNDP in reducing the risk and impact of natural disasters, preventing armed conflicts, and assisting recovery from crisis when it occurs.

Specifically, the Bureau’s role is to consolidate UNDP’s crisis prevention and recovery knowledge and experience; provide a bridge between humanitarian response and the development work of UNDP; and be an advocate for crisis sensitivity in the context of development policy.

Keyword:  africa_west