To mark the 7th UN Road safety week, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in collaboration with partners held an event on sustainable transport with strong calls for “governments to facilitate a shift to walking, cycling and the use of public transport.” The celebrations are holding from 15-21 May with “Rethink Mobility” as the main campaign slogan.
Ethiopia’s Minister for Transport and Logistics, Mr. Alemu Semie informed the meeting of his country’s efforts to implement the global, continental and national road safety agenda and the new UN Decade for Action for Road Safety.
From Cameroon, Mr. Njoya Zakariaou, Delegated Minister to the Ministry of Transport highlighted the numerous efforts underway in his country to advance road safety and sustainable transport; and thanked ECA for supporting those efforts.
For his part, ECA’s Acting Executive Secretary, Antonio Pedro said research on implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) shows Africa “would require over two million additional trucks to meet the increased demand for road freight. It is expected that most of these trucks will be second-hand vehicles, with serious road safety and environmental implications, in the absence of strong regulation on used vehicles.”
He expressed optimism, saying “we have the tools to address road safety challenges in Africa, particularly the African Road Safety Action Plan for the period 2021-2030.”
Mr. Jean Todt, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, commended the efforts of ECA to overcome the Road Safety challenges on the continent together with the African Union Commission and partners, and highlighted the need for strong road safety management to reach the target of the Decade 2021-2023 of Road Safety. “The cost of road safety reaches 5% of the GDP of the African continent and that affects everyone; this is why road safety management is a vital component for helping economic growth, social development and environmental preservation”, Mr Todt said.
The United Nations (UN) General Assembly mandates the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN regional commissions to plan and host periodic UN Global Road Safety Weeks.
