BUJUMBURA, March 10th (ABP) – The General Directorate of Civil Protection and Disaster Management celebrated, on Friday, March 7, 2025, in Bujumbura, under the high patronage of the Ministry of the Interior, Community Development and Public Security, World Civil Protection Day, 2025 Edition, under the theme “Civil Protection, Guarantee of Security for the Population”.
On that occasion, the Director General of Civil Protection and Disaster Management, Roger Ndikumana, indicated that the celebration of the day aims to contribute to the development of States’ own systems, to ensure assistance to populations, their protection, the safeguarding of their property and the environment with regard to natural and man-made disasters.
He also said that on February 19, 2009, Burundi became an effective member of the International Civil Defense Organization (ICDO), and that this day began to be celebrated under various themes in Burundi on March 1 of the same year.
Ndikumana announced that during the past year, several achievements have been made in the field of risk management and prevention against natural disasters, including the implementation of the multi-risk cartography map, which is planned to be taught to the population so that they know how to use it. He also said that different neighborhoods of the city of Bujumbura were supplied with drinking water, and that during the same year, the population affected by floods in Gatumba was rescued and moved to Mubimbi and Buganda in Cibitoke province.
He noted that among the risks managed are also fire accidents. Regarding flood risks, Ndikumana advised victims who are still in flooded areas to leave them and go to places that the State has reserved for them, but also to stop practicing agricultural work in those risk areas until further notice.
Ndikumana also pointed out that the areas on the coast of Lake Tanganyika are the most flood-prone. He deplored the behavior of some people who return to live in those areas after being displaced, while reminding them that they should follow the advice received to no longer face the same risks.
Regarding the challenges, Ndikumana indicated that the civil protection sector is facing the lack of sufficient technical engineering equipment such as loader shovels, fire trucks with longer ladders, to intervene in the event of fires in multi-story houses, as well as tankers for the supply of drinking water to neighborhoods that do not have it.
He also pointed out that this sector needs materials for the management and prevention of risks that may arise in industries related to chemical, biological, nuclear and radiological products. Ndikumana revealed that these materials have been ordered.
Ndikumana recommended that the population work in collaboration with different sectors such as urban planning and construction, consult contingency plans to learn about the management of risks and natural disasters.