The Special Envoy held bilateral meetings with the following road safety stakeholders during his stay in Ecuador in January 2018.
Dr. Paul Granda, Minister of Transportation of Ecuador
Dr. Paul Granda, Minister of Transportation of Ecuador
The Special Envoy and the Minister discussed the road safety situation in the country and its existing challenges, sharing of opportunities for improvement. The Special Envoy gave an overview of United Nations road safety conventions and their value to improving road safety governance in the country. The Minister expressed interest in acceding and reviewing the process of becoming a contracting party. The Special Envoy also shared about the progress in the establishment of the United Nations Road Safety Trust Fund with an expected launch in April 2018.
Dr. José Serrano, President of the National Assembly
The Special Envoy gave an overview of his mandate and priorities and discussed existing road safety challenges in Ecuador as well as shared some statistics on road traffic fatalities and injuries. President of the National Assembly agreed on importance of coordinated approach with road safety stakeholders in the country, such as the Inter-American Development Bank, United Nations and civil society. The Special Envoy further highlighted the importance of law enforcement in reducing road fatalities and the value that transposition of the Untied Nations road safety conventions could provide for road safety governance.
Econ. Pablo Andrés Calle Figueroa, Executive Director of the National Transit Agency
The Special Envoy introduced the terms of his role and mandate as well as provided an overview of key priorities and upcoming activities. He further shared about the progress on the establishment of the United nations Road Safety Trust Fund aimed at supporting United Nations Member States in achieving better road-safety outcomes. The Special Envoy gave an overview of United Nations road safety conventions and strongly encouraged accession and implementation. The Executive Director shared about his Agency’s activities on road safety and expressed strong interest in the Conventions, committing to supporting the next steps of accession.
Mr. Fernando Quevedo, IDB Representative in Ecuador
The Special Envoy outlined his mandate and they both discussed priorities within the region and globally. The Special Envoy further shared about the United Nations Road Safety Trust Fund establishment, and encouraged IDB’s engagement and contribution to the Fund.
United Nations Country Team in Ecuador
The Special Envoy provided an update on his activities and shared of the progress on the United Nations Road Safety Trust Fund foreseen to launch in April 2018. The UN Resident Coordinator (RC) shared about ongoing reforms on the new traffic law aimed at regulating various aspects of land transport, transit and road safety, which is also a legal basis for the national road safety plan 2012-2020 aimed at reducing road traffic fatalities and injuries.
The Special Envoy provided a summary of the United Nations road safety conventions and encouraged the RC to support the government of Ecuador in their accession process, if it becomes of interest. The Special Envoy also shared about the UN Internal Road Safety Strategy, developed by the Department of Safety and Security with the goal to reduce the number of road traffic fatalities within UN operations. Once the Strategy is launched later this year, the UN RC’s role will be instrumental in its implementation on the ground.
The following members of the UN Country Team participated in the meeting:
• Mr. Arnaud Peral, UN Resident Coordinator
• Ms. Bibiana Aido Almagro, UN Women Representative
• Mr. Nuno Queiros, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative
• Mr. Damien Thuriaux, IMO Representative
• Ms. Gina Tambini, PAHO/WHO Representative
• Mr. Juan Enrique Quiñonez, UNICEF Deputy Representative
• Ms. Cristina Medina, World Bank Officer in Charge
• Ms. Kyungnan Park, WFP Representative
Ecuador is a developing middle-income economy with the population of 16, 38 million inhabitants. According to the WHO, Ecuador has strong laws addressing three of five risk factors: speed-limit, child-seat, and seat-belt law. However, the drink-driving and helmet laws need to be improved. There are 3,164 road traffic fatalities reported by the WHO annually. Ecuador has not acceded to any of six UN Road Safety conventions. The lead road safety agency is the National Control and Regulatory Agency of Land Transport, Transit and Road Safety.
The Special Envoy previously visited Ecuador in October 2016 for the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Development, Habitat III and met with Mr. Cesar Navas Vera, Coordinating Minister for Security, Mr. Juan Carlos Cassinelli Cali, Minister of Foreign Exports, and with the UN Country Team.
Dr. José Serrano, President of the National Assembly
The Special Envoy gave an overview of his mandate and priorities and discussed existing road safety challenges in Ecuador as well as shared some statistics on road traffic fatalities and injuries. President of the National Assembly agreed on importance of coordinated approach with road safety stakeholders in the country, such as the Inter-American Development Bank, United Nations and civil society. The Special Envoy further highlighted the importance of law enforcement in reducing road fatalities and the value that transposition of the Untied Nations road safety conventions could provide for road safety governance.
Econ. Pablo Andrés Calle Figueroa, Executive Director of the National Transit Agency
The Special Envoy introduced the terms of his role and mandate as well as provided an overview of key priorities and upcoming activities. He further shared about the progress on the establishment of the United nations Road Safety Trust Fund aimed at supporting United Nations Member States in achieving better road-safety outcomes. The Special Envoy gave an overview of United Nations road safety conventions and strongly encouraged accession and implementation. The Executive Director shared about his Agency’s activities on road safety and expressed strong interest in the Conventions, committing to supporting the next steps of accession.
Mr. Fernando Quevedo, IDB Representative in Ecuador
The Special Envoy outlined his mandate and they both discussed priorities within the region and globally. The Special Envoy further shared about the United Nations Road Safety Trust Fund establishment, and encouraged IDB’s engagement and contribution to the Fund.
United Nations Country Team in Ecuador
The Special Envoy provided an update on his activities and shared of the progress on the United Nations Road Safety Trust Fund foreseen to launch in April 2018. The UN Resident Coordinator (RC) shared about ongoing reforms on the new traffic law aimed at regulating various aspects of land transport, transit and road safety, which is also a legal basis for the national road safety plan 2012-2020 aimed at reducing road traffic fatalities and injuries.
The Special Envoy provided a summary of the United Nations road safety conventions and encouraged the RC to support the government of Ecuador in their accession process, if it becomes of interest. The Special Envoy also shared about the UN Internal Road Safety Strategy, developed by the Department of Safety and Security with the goal to reduce the number of road traffic fatalities within UN operations. Once the Strategy is launched later this year, the UN RC’s role will be instrumental in its implementation on the ground.
The following members of the UN Country Team participated in the meeting:
• Mr. Arnaud Peral, UN Resident Coordinator
• Ms. Bibiana Aido Almagro, UN Women Representative
• Mr. Nuno Queiros, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative
• Mr. Damien Thuriaux, IMO Representative
• Ms. Gina Tambini, PAHO/WHO Representative
• Mr. Juan Enrique Quiñonez, UNICEF Deputy Representative
• Ms. Cristina Medina, World Bank Officer in Charge
• Ms. Kyungnan Park, WFP Representative
Ecuador is a developing middle-income economy with the population of 16, 38 million inhabitants. According to the WHO, Ecuador has strong laws addressing three of five risk factors: speed-limit, child-seat, and seat-belt law. However, the drink-driving and helmet laws need to be improved. There are 3,164 road traffic fatalities reported by the WHO annually. Ecuador has not acceded to any of six UN Road Safety conventions. The lead road safety agency is the National Control and Regulatory Agency of Land Transport, Transit and Road Safety.
The Special Envoy previously visited Ecuador in October 2016 for the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Development, Habitat III and met with Mr. Cesar Navas Vera, Coordinating Minister for Security, Mr. Juan Carlos Cassinelli Cali, Minister of Foreign Exports, and with the UN Country Team.