African Standby Force police roster system: proposed features, operations and processes

Although Africa hosts most peacekeeping missions, the rest of the world seems to be reluctant to deploy forces to the continent. Therefore, Africa needs to develop its own peacekeeping capabilities more than any other region.

In this context, the African Standby Force (ASF) is intended to be a multidisciplinary African force on a high level of readiness and capable of rapid deployment. However, a roster system for the ASF police has not yet been established. Consequently, the current brief invites for the establishment of a roster system for the ASF, underlying the following key points:

• an efficient roster system must be able to ensure systematic recording, maintenance, updating and sharing of information on the standby police personnel  
• the system should be able to facilitate quick screening of qualified personnel who meet the requirements for many types of police peacekeeping assignments
• the system must be capable of supporting the training, research and development of the ASF police dimension

To achieve these objectives, the author highlights that the roster system needs to have standardised features, processes and data technology, together with the requisite human and financial inputs. In addition, the system needs to be managed through clear and comprehensive guidelines regarding data operations and data sharing as well as the specific roles of the key actors in the course of the system’s development and operations. On the other hand, the roster system may need to be part of an integrated-ASF communication and information system and strategy.