“Road safety is an existential issue for motor-vehicle manufacturers, not only as a societal obligation but also from a business point of view” said Mr. Rakesh Sharma during the closing panel. Mr Sharma additionally confirmed the manufacturers’ willingness to be co-opted in building road safety solutions.
Ms. Luciana Iorio, Chair of WP.1 Global Forum for Road Traffic Safety, as moderator of the panel discussions stated her appreciation on IMMA’s contributions made over the years to activities of WP.1.
The Roundtable aimed to bring together key stakeholders for a strategic discussion on the new course of action to address the continuing crisis on global road safety since the international community was not able to achieve by 2020 the target 3.6 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents.
Some of the speakers, including Mr. Jean Todt, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety and Ms. Olga Algayerova, Executive Secretary of the UNECE, the Minister of Transport of the Netherlands Ms Cora van Nieuwenhuizen and Mr. Dmitry Mitroshin, Russian Federation referred to the ongoing shift in mobility patterns especially to individual modes of transport due to the health pandemic, posing new challenges.
Dr. Etienne Krug and Dr. Nhan Tran of the World Health Organization announced a global UN event by the end of 2022 to promote the new global plan for action 2021-2030 currently under development and expected for publication in September 2021. This plan will emphasize the need for a patchwork of local solutions tailored to local issues and promote progressive iterative improvements leading to a significant reduction in road accidents, injuries and fatalities.
Other contributions were made by Mr. Matthew Baldwin (EU Coordinator for Road Safety), Mr. Rob McInerney (CEO of IRAP), Mr. Yuwei Li – Director of UNECE Sustainable Transport Division and representatives of ESCWA Mr. Moctar El Hacene, Division Director and Mr. Weimin Ren, Director of the Transport Division of UN ESCAP.
The Round Table ‘s key note speakers also noted that the changed mobility and the safety and sustainability challenges resulting from the pandemic should also be considered as an opportunity for a new perspective on improving road safety worldwide.
83rd session of the Inland Transport Committee
With the subsidiary bodies as WP.1 and WP.29, the ITC provides global intergovernmental forum, where United Nations Member States and international Organizations and transport sector stakeholders come together to forge tools for economic cooperation and negotiate and adopt international legal instruments on inland transport.
The Inland Transport is attended by policy makers, including Ministers, deputy Ministers and Heads of delegations of Contracting Parties to the 59 United Nations Transport Conventions under the purview of the ITC. Seven of the 59 Conventions are closely linked to road safety.
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