ASSISTANCE MEASURE TO SUPPORT THE ARMED FORCES OF CÔTE D’IVOIRE

SUPPLY OF DETECTION AND SURVEILLANCE EQUIPMENT, LAND VEHICLES, INTEGRATED TRAINING FOR DRONE OPERATORS, AND TRAINING IN INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW AND INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW.

OBJECTIVES & CHALLENGES

By decision of 29 April 2024, the Council of the European Union entrusted Defence Council International with the implementation of an assistance measure under the European Peace Facility to support the armed forces of Côte d’Ivoire.
The aim of the assistance measure is to help the armed forces of Côte d’Ivoire to protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Côte d’Ivoire and its civilian population against internal and external threats.
To achieve this objective, the assistance measure finances the following types of services and equipment that are not designed to release lethal force:

• Electromagnetic signal collection systems, their integration on board two aircraft and associated training;
• UAV training capability, including a training package and associated training;
• Militarised multi-purpose land vehicles and associated training;
• Training in international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

PRESENTATION OF THE PROJECT

• This measure is part of the European Union’s security and defence initiative for West African countries in the Gulf of Guinea, which will extended to Côte d’Ivoire in September 2023.
• The strategic objective of the initiative is to help the West African countries in the Gulf of Guinea in which the initiative is established to develop, within their security and defence forces, the capabilities needed to contain and respond to pressure from non-state armed groups.

On 13 March 2024, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (the ‘High Representative’) received a request from Côte d’Ivoire for the Union to assist the Armed Forces of Côte d’Ivoire with the procurement of key equipment to strengthen their operational capabilities to secure land borders and to counter non-state armed groups which are destabilising the country and the whole West Africa region.