Disasters in Mauritania

The legal framework is the Dispositif National de Préparation et de Réponse aux Urgences et Catastrophes Naturelles, established by Décret n°2023-142 of 27 October 2023. It covers risk prevention, preparedness, early warning, rescue, humanitarian assistance, temporary evacuation, rehabilitation, recovery and continuity of critical services. A catastrophe state concerns severe disruption to a community or infrastructure when the affected community cannot cope with its own resources. Conflict, international aggression and other emergencies outside the framework follow different arrangements. Common hazards include intense rain, flooding of the Senegal River, surface runoff, drought and rainfall deficits, bush fires, pollution, urban and peri-urban hazards, and coastal or sea-level exposure in national planning. The 2026 National Office of Meteorology outlook indicates normal-to-excess rainfall from June to August in the north, centre and east, and normal-to-deficit rainfall in the south-west and south. Long or variable dry periods may affect the south. Flooding can damage drainage channels, roads, bridges, dams, water and electricity networks, agricultural land and pasture, and can interrupt movement and essential services. The Comité Interministériel pour les situations d’urgence et catastrophes naturelles is chaired by the Prime Minister. It analyses emergency information, coordinates institutions, approves ORSEC plans, mobilizes public and private resources and funds, and approves plans for leaving a crisis. The Cellule Permanente de Coordination et de Suivi prepares and reviews ORSEC plans, manages emergency information and communication, follows decisions and evaluates plans. The Commission Technique d’Intervention, chaired by the Délégation Générale à la Sécurité Civile et à la Gestion des Crises, supervises operations across alert levels. The Centre National de Gestion des Crises connects with regional operational coordination centres. Mauritania requires an ORSEC plan for each Wilaya and Moughataa. These plans contain general rules and risk-specific arrangements, including rescue command structures. Regional emergency cells support the Wali by collecting and processing information, preparing and evaluating regional ORSEC plans and coordinating rescue. Moughataa committees, formed under orders of the Wali or Hakem, report initial facts, count victims and damage, help secure sites, inform the public and assess priority needs. A mayor provides public information about local risks and displays the document at the mairie for two months. A communal safeguard plan is optional. The response system has three activation levels. Degree 3 covers a confined acute event with limited damage or population impact; the Wali activates rescue with the mayor and regional services. Degree 2 covers a wider acute event with relatively limited damage; the Interior Minister issues the order and the Wali coordinates the regional ORSEC response. Degree 1 covers an unpredictable crisis or natural catastrophe, or an urban or peri-urban risk affecting collective safety or health, with or without population movement. The Prime Minister declares the catastrophe state by order after the Interministerial Committee has acted. The order specifies the geographic area, validity period and initial measures. The Office National de la Météorologie provides forecasts, climate and agrometeorological information, national bulletins, weather advice, rain-season monitoring, seasonal forecasts, rainfall sheets and interactive maps. When an emergency or ORSEC alert is issued, broadcasters and telecommunications services must transmit priority emergency messages and safety instructions. Mobile operators contribute this service free of charge. The published emergency numbers are 118 for firefighters, 117 for emergency police, 116 for the national gendarmerie, 119 for the general road-safety group, 101 for SAMU and 102 for the National Guard. A single nationwide public evacuation-registration route, shelter directory or detailed alert-code system has not been published. During a threat, use 118 and contact the local Hakem, Wali, municipality or emergency committee. Preparedness includes temporary evacuation of people and assets from threatened areas. Rescue missions cover identifying affected people, notifying authorities, rescue, protection, first aid, evacuation and safeguarding people and property. Approved civil-protection associations may assist only after a prior agreement with civil-protection or health services. Authorities may requisition necessary public or private resources through a reasoned decision stating the type of service, duration and conditions. The State compensates requisitioned equipment that is damaged or destroyed within a reasonable time, but the amount and payment timing are not defined in the available material. Two documented assistance pathways address some disaster losses. The Commissariat à la Sécurité Alimentaire can provide relief for floods and storms through its Direction d’Aide d’Urgence. The application requires a Procès Verbal de l’intempérie issued by territorial administrative authorities and is submitted to the CSA central secretariat in Nouakchott. The published average processing time is 45 days, delivery is through the Direction du stock and complaints go to the Direction d’Aide d’Urgence at contact@csa.gov.mr. No standard quantity, value, nationality rule or filing deadline is published. The Direction de l’Action Sociale et de la Solidarité Nationale can consider cash assistance for victims of fires, drownings and other disasters. Its published requirements are an application addressed to the Minister, copies of security or civil-protection records and a Certificat d’indigence. The file goes to the ministry central secretariat, processing is stated as one week, the fee is 0 MRU and complaints go to DASSN. The transfer amount, general nationality or residence threshold and appeal deadline are not published. Actual relief can be case-based. After rain and runoff in Boumdeid in July 2025, Taaazour cash relief reached 120 families through lists recorded with local authorities, but the amount was not disclosed. Other flood responses have combined cash, food, blankets, mattresses, mosquito nets, hygiene supplies and shelter. During food deficits or drought, the 2026 Dispositif national de réponse aux crises alimentaires et nutritionnelles coordinates anticipatory action based on field surveys, rainfall, agricultural production and prices, targeting vulnerable households; refugees are included in the 2026 national protection and response plan. Recovery uses the terms réhabilitation, rétablissement and plans de sortie de crise. Current rainy-season planning focuses on protecting people, property and infrastructure and maintaining essential services. Mauritania has no published automatic insurance payment, universal reconstruction grant or fixed recovery deadline in the available material. State authorities, local administrations, NGOs, economic operators and citizens share prevention and response responsibilities. Economic actors are urged to maintain risk-prevention and crisis plans, specialist services and suitable human and material resources. Local implementation, public information and access to aid can differ across Wilayas and Moughataas, and some public portal entries are outdated.