WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

First Global Ministerial Conference for Road Safety in Moscow (2009)

ASIRT recently participated in the First Global Ministerial Conference for Road Safety and hosted by the Russian Federation in Moscow on November 19-20, 2009. Rochelle Sobel was the final speaker of the conference, representing the international road safety NGO community and reporting on the action steps advised in the NGO Declaration of the Brussels NGO Conference (May 2009). ASIRT also conducted a separate meeting of “Victims NGOs” attending. The conference produced the “Moscow Declaration”, a declaration encouraging the establishment of a Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020) and signed by ministers from 150 countries. This declaration served as the basis for a historic resolution (A/64/L.44/Rev.1) passed by the U.N. General Assembly on March 2, 2010.

NGO Conference in Brussels, Belgium (2009)

On May 7-8, 2009, over one hundred participants from road safety organizations from around the world met in Brussels for a meeting advocating for road safety. The goals of the meeting were to share knowledge, experiences, and approaches to advocating for road safety; foster a greater understanding of best practice in global road safety; and to prepare for the First Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Moscow in November 2009.

Faces Behind the Figures (2007)

ASIRT worked with the World Health Organization on an initiative to collect first-hand accounts of road traffic victims and their families and friends in over 20 countries. Faces Behind the Figures: Voices of Road Traffic Crash Victims offers insight into the very personal and often devastating effect of road crashes on loved ones by putting a face on the statistics. Faces presents the experiences of individuals of all ages and backgrounds who have been involved personally or who have lost loved ones in a road crash.

Faces is a powerful advocacy tool, to impress upon policy makers and activists the scale of the tragedy, challenging them to take further steps to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries around the world. Faces behind the figures was released during the First U.N. Global Road Safety Week in Geneva.

ASIRT continues to promote the book on its website and when meeting with corporate and community leaders in the U.S. and in partner countries. To view the document, click: Faces Behind the Figures.

World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention (2004)

WHO worked with international partners, including ASIRT to produce the World report on road traffic injury prevention (link to World Report in Resources section), published in 2004. The World Report serves as a framework for road safety efforts worldwide, providing a clear set of recommendations for action. The report identifies five key risk factors that contribute to the increase in road crashes:

  1. Non-use of safety belts and child restraints
  2. Drink driving
  3. Non-use or inadequate use of helmets
  4. Excessive speed
  5. Lack of or inadequate infrastructure

World Health Day (2004)

The World Health Organization (WHO) released its groundbreaking World report on road traffic injury prevention and also sent a powerful message to the world by devoting World Health Day 2004 to road safety. ASIRT participated in this global event, celebrated on April 7, 2004 in Paris, France. President Jacques Chirac, the event’s host, delivered a powerful keynote speech calling road traffic crashes an “evil which strikes at the modern world”. He stressed the need for political commitment to road safety at the highest level and called for action by all countries to address this crisis.

ASIRT participated in a panel on “International Cooperation Regarding the Implementation of the Recommendations of the World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention” that included Dr. Adnan Hyder (Special Adviser, Pakistan Medical Research Council), Dr. Kwaku Afriyie (Minister of Health, Ghana), Mr. Muhamed bin Adbullah bin Issa Al Harthy (Minister of Transport, Sultanate of Oman), Mr. David Ward (Director General, FIA Foundation for the Automobile Society) and Ms. Maryvonne Plessis-Fraissard (Director, Transport and Urban Development, World Bank). Other panels addressed “Successes and Promising Initiatives” with participation by France’s Minister of Transport and U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Norman Minetta, among others.

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