Photo By Master Sgt. Toby Valadie | Attendees of the East Africa Security Forum pose for a group photo in front of a U.S....... read more read more
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CAMP LEMONNIER, Djibouti – More than 30 U.S. government interagency officials working in over 15 East Africa countries attended the 2023 East Africa Security Forum (EASF) hosted at Camp Lemonnier from May 31 to June 2, 2023.
Officials who attended the EASF were encouraged to share information with interagency partners embedded in various African partner nations. Attendees included representatives from the U.S. Department of State, the U.S Agency for International Development (USAID), the National Security Council and the Department of Defense to discuss strategy specific to security threats in the region.
U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Michael Langley, commander of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), opened the forum, touching on valuable lessons learned from past crises and how to incorporate those lessons into future crisis response plans.
“This region is critically important to AFRICOM’s mission economically, politically and strategically,” said Langley. “East Africa is home to more than 200 million people…and is a global crossroads [that] connects the economies, cultures and histories of Africa, Asia and the Indo-Pacific. At this forum, our task is to secure vital U.S. objectives in this critical region.”
The forum included a demonstration of capabilities that Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa’s East Africa Response Force (EARF) can offer during crisis response efforts. The EARF is a rapid response force created after the 2012 attack on U.S. government facilities in Benghazi, Libya, that stands ready to rapidly deploy response forces in support of the security of the East African region.
“Our greatest strength is our interagency approach as a whole of government to protect our country’s values and interests across Sub-Saharan Africa,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jami C. Shawley, commanding general of Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa. “When we stop sharing, stop integrating and stop synchronizing, our interagency approach yields a collection of silos of excellence rather than coordinated actions that raise global prosperity.”
| Date Taken: | 06.02.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 06.23.2023 08:41 |
| Story ID: | 447594 |
| Location: | DJIBOUTI CITY, DJ |
| Web Views: | 307 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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