East Africa - building forces

For more than 10 years, the Danish Armed Forces has supported the building of both naval and land forces in the East African countries. The aim is to raise the level of local military forces in order to strengthen the countries' ability to cope with security policy problems in the region. 

The financing of the effort comes from the Peace and Stabilization Fund; a collaboration between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence on stabilization work in fragile countries.

In East Africa, the funds have mainly been used for the fight against piracy, which has been a major problem for Denmark as a maritime nation, among others. Denmark has had a maritime adviser attached to the African Union's headquarters in Addis Ababa, supported and trained coastguards in the Gulf of Aden and not least supported Kenya's fleet with both advice and donations of a ship simulator and a test bench for ship engines.

Denmark and the other Nordic countries have also supported the East African countries' building of the East African Standby Forces (EASF). It is an emergency force that in fourteen days must be able to move in and put a damper on local conflicts. Denmark has also contributed advisers to the International Peace Support Training Center in Nairobi, which trains soldiers from all East African countries so that they can contribute to peace support operations.

In recent years, Denmark has reduced its involvement in East Africa and is now using more resources in the Sahel region and in West Africa. The East African Standby Forces have been declared fully operational, and the fight against piracy in the Horn of Africa and in the Gulf of Aden has reduced the problem of piracy in the area.

Denmark currently has an adviser from the Danish Armed Forces attached to the Kenyan navy and a defense attaché at the Danish embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.