The African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) conducts a road trip exercise across North and West Darfur dubbed “Haboob Chase”. (UN Photo/Albert González Farran)
By Gary Raynaldo DIPLOMATIC TIMES
UNITED NATIONS – NEW YORK – Road traffic crashes claim 1.3 million lives each year and are the leading cause of death among children and young adults. It is a man-made epidemic. Every 24 seconds, another person is killed in a road traffic crash. The vast majority of deaths – 90% – are in developing countries. According to the UN, in addition to the human suffering caused by road traffic injuries, they also incur a heavy economic burden on victims and their families, both through treatment costs for the injured and through loss of productivity of those killed or disabled. The UN held a High-Level Meeting this week on Global Road Safety. The President of the UN General Assembly announced the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 last year that set the ambitious target of preventing at least 50 percent of road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030. The UN Road Safety Fund hosted its first pledging event on June 30, 2022 at UN head quarters, and announced that a total of 16 partners nations pledged more than $15 million to fund vital road safety projects in low-and middle income countries during 2022-2025. The UN Road Safety Fund (UNRSF) – set up in 2018 – is a global partnership working to help halve road deaths and injuries in low- and middle-income countries, where over 90% of the 1.3 million fatal crashes occur each year.
“Road Safety is a key development issue, costing developing countries between 2-5% of GDP every year. So, without roads that are safe, there can be no sustainable development”, stated Olga Algayerova, Executive Secretary, UN Economic Commission for Europe. “I call on every country in the world to apply as a minimum set of rules the 7 key UN legal instruments on road safety. To deliver our commitment to halve road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030 and make safe and sustainable mobility a reality for all, countries must integrate road safety into all relevant national policies, in areas ranging from urban planning to education, and ensure proportionate national budget allocations.”
Photo By Gary Raynaldo / ©Diplomatic Times) Abdulla Shahid, President of the United Nations General Assembly (center), Jean Todt, Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Road Safety (left), Olga Algayerova, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Executive Secretary (right) brief reporters on the sidelines of General Assembly’s High-level Meeting on Global Road Safety at UN world headquarters in New York July 01, 2022)
DIPLOMAITIC TIMES VIDEO / The UN held a High-Level Meeting this week on Global Road Safety. The President of the UN General Assembly Abdulla Shahid announced the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 last year that set the ambitious target of preventing at least 50 percent of road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030.
Photo By Gary Raynaldo / ©Diplomatic Times) Abdulla Shahid, President of the United Nations General Assembly (center), Jean Todt United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Executive Secretary (left) brief reporters on the sidelines of General Assembly’s High-level Meeting on Global Road Safety at UN world headquarters in New York July 01, 2022)
“More funding can and must be channelled towards road safety solutions to stop the senseless loss of lives still occurring on our roads each and every day,” commented Jean Todt, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety.
