2nd United Nations Coordination Meeting for Road Safety

In his opening remarks, the Special Envoy provided an overview of his on-going road safety efforts, emphasizing that "the resources devoted to road safety on all levels are far too low" and  that "it has been estimated that HIV/AIDS attracted 1,000 times more funds than road safety between 2012 and 2014, despite road traffic injuries accounting for a high portion of the global burden of disease". He calls for a stronger cooperation between UN Agencies to "ensure that road safety is placed as high on national and global agendas". 

Mr. Peter Drennan, USG of UN's Department of Safety and Security, presented at the meeting the Internal Road Safety Strategy "A Partnership for Safer Journeys", which was developed in response to the growing number of road fatalities among UN personnel, accounting for 85 per cent of all safety related incidents. The Strategy is expected to be launched early next year, and a key role of UN Resident Coordinators in its implementation was emphasized.  
It was followed by a presentation by UN Economic Commission for Europe about the progress on the establishment of a UN Road Safety Trust Fund. The potential Fund is targeted to strengthen road safety management capacity and support Member States in achieving  the road safety-related Sustainable Development Goals. It would also generate adequate resources to support countries in their road safety efforts across  five pillars of the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020.  

The meeting participants then shared about the road safety and sustainable development related efforts in their respective departments or agencies. It was agreed that the existing partnerships between agencies should be further strengthened, while innovative partnerships with the private sector could be explored. It was agreed that meeting participants will share relevant information and best practices in their on-going road safety initiatives, and forward the names of the focal points to the DSS office, for the implementation phase of the Internal Road Safety Strategy. 

The Special Envoy concluded the meeting by appreciating demonstrated commitment from over twenty Agencies in attendance, encouraging stronger coordinated road safety efforts, and proposing to meet in 2018 to build upon the momentum today.