   The articles 11 (1) to (3) explicitly specify that the eligibility age is from 18 to 40 years. The National Service is limited to 18 months by law; 12 months of which are spent on civilian/public assignments and takes place in the Sawa Education and Training Center. In times of peace, National Service members do not have any other obligations once they fulfill their duty of service. But they are in theory part of the reserve army eligible for recall if and when war breaks out. The system is mainly developed as an architecture for prompting youth preparedness and contribution in national development. But it also emerged against the backdrop of massive demobilization of the liberation struggle army and the vigorous efforts for a robust framework of regional security and development cooperation. Hence, National Service in some ways was essentially seen as a contingent security architecture which would allow the young nation to maintain a very small regular army with the latitude to mobilize the necessary force if and when it is faced with existential threats. 266. Since its inception, the Sawa Education and Training center has graduated over 500,000 national service members and played a dynamic role in national defense, national development and the promotion of the basic values of liberation, freedom and democracy. Moreover, the Center also catered a 2 year technical and vocational training programme for more than 17,000 in the last 10 years. This demonstrates the center‟s importance as a vehicle for youth upbringing, cultural transformation and human resource development. 267. Demobilization after completing national service has been an important component of the system. A Commission for Demobilization (pursuant to Proclamation No 113/2001) was established in 2001 immediately after the Cessation of hostilities Agreement was signed between Eritrea and Ethiopia. The programme envisaged full demobilization from the army in three phases, and through the support of the international partners. During the first phase (2001 – 2005) over 105,000 were demobilized within the envisaged schedule. But subsequent phases were slowed when Ethiopia rejected the EEBC decision through a formal letter of its late Prime Minister to the UN (in September 2003) and the international partners shied their responsibility to take appropriate action. In spite of this major obstacles, however, large scale demobilizations continue to occur. The war and its sequel of continued hostilities is the result of Ethiopia‟s flagrant violation of international law and fundamental provisions of the UN Charter and the Algiers Peace Agreement signed between the two countries. In the absence of appropriate measures by the UN Security Council against Ethiopia, explicitly stipulated in the Algiers Agreement, Eritrea has no option but to take necessary measures of self-defense that is proportionate to the threat it faces. Eritrea has been forced to prolong the duration of the National Service from its statutory 18 months to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The normative configuration of the national service duties is thus affected due to Ethiopia‟s continued occupation of sovereign Eritrean territories and its pronounced plans of destabilization. 268. Page 66 of 100