The General Directorate of Civil Protection, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), officially launched a full-scale simulation exercise on Friday, August 21, 2026, dedicated to managing a river flood situation.
The event took place on the banks of the Niger River in Badalabougou, in the presence of the Deputy Director General of Civil Protection, Firefighter Colonel Bakary DAO, as well as several officials from the Defense and Security Forces.
This three-day simulation exercise represents a significant opportunity for the National Emergency Operations Center to test and strengthen its early warning procedures and operational coordination mechanisms. It also allows the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction to assess, under conditions as close as possible to reality, the effectiveness of its tools, plans, and contingency measures in the face of flood risk.
In his address, the Deputy Director General of Civil Protection, Firefighter Colonel Bakary DAO, reiterated that protecting populations and their property from disasters is a core responsibility of the State. He emphasized that this responsibility is fulfilled with the support of technical and financial partners, local authorities, and civil society.
According to him, this full-scale exercise aims in particular to test the robustness of the alert system, the speed of mobilization of emergency resources, the efficiency of coordination between the various stakeholders, and the capacity of the intervention structures to ensure dignified and effective care for the affected populations. He commended the commitment of all stakeholders in the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, whose mobilization of expertise, resources, and means made this simulation possible.
For her part, the 5th Deputy Mayor of the 5th Arrondissement of the District of Bamako, Ms. Haïdara Oumou Touré, stated that the exercise provided a valuable opportunity to test the alert systems, coordination mechanisms, and decision-making procedures of the intervention units. She emphasized the importance of learning from each stage of the simulation. "Every difficulty encountered, every delay observed, and every lesson learned represents an opportunity to improve our system before a real-life situation arises," she stressed.
Through this exercise, the authorities and various risk management stakeholders aim to strengthen their collective capacity to anticipate, decide upon, and act quickly and effectively in the face of flooding, in order to better protect populations and their property during the rainy season. 1st Class Oumou Diakité
