Fourth United Nations Partnership Meeting for Road Safety

With the adoption of the UN General Assembly Resolution on Improving Global Road Safety (A/RES/74/299), Member States have pledged to augment efforts during the second Decade of Action for Road Safety (2021-2030), including by aiming to halve the number of deaths and injuries. Traffic injuries still claim the lives of 3,700 people on roads around the world each day and road safety constitutes one of the most pressing development challenges of current times, with its significant social and economic consequences.

It was in the spirit of promoting strategic partnerships in support of global road safety efforts that the Special Envoy convened the Fourth UN Partnership Meeting for Road Safety on 4 November 2020. Due to COVID-19, the event was held virtually and attended by nearly 70 high-level representatives from 31 UN organizations and departments, including a contribution by the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Ms. Amina J. Mohammed through a video message.

Throughout the meeting, the Special Envoy recognized the need to take urgent action towards addressing one of the most pressing emergencies of current time. While there has been significant and warranted focus on addressing the COVID-19 crisis, he mentioned that it is also of utmost importance that other priorities, like road safety, are not scaled back. The pandemic has taught to align development goals with each other - resulting in higher impacts of policies and programs (climate change, health, human rights, transport, health, sustainable development and road safety).

Therefore, through the Partnerships Meetings, the Special Envoy aims to continue to cultivate dialogue and collaboration within the UN system for collective goal of safe and sustainable mobility for every citizen on the planet.

Furthermore, he elaborated on the above latest UN General Assembly Resolution on Improving Global Road Safety adopted by Member States on 31 August 2020 and relevant targets. Among the key conclusions, it:

o Proclaims a new Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030, propelling towards a new target to halve the number of road deaths and injuries between 2021-2030;

o Invites Member States to support the activities of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Road Safety, the UNRSF and to promote multi-stakeholder partnerships to address the road safety challenges;

o Requests the World Health Organization and the UN regional commissions, as well as other relevant UN agencies, to continue activities aimed at supporting the implementation of the road safety-related targets in the 2030 Agenda, while ensuring system-wide coherence.

The Special Envoy invited the Executive Secretaries of ECE, ESCAP, UNECA, the Vice President for Infrastructure of the World Bank, as well as presenters and organizations’ representatives to share their feedback. The main topics covered during the meeting were the UN agenda for the new Decade of Action for Road Safety; the positioning of the UN Road Safety Fund (UNRSF) for maximum impact; as well as the support required from the participating Agencies to implement their global plans.

In conclusion, the Special Envoy encouraged strengthening partnerships for sustainable results during the second Decade and thanked all the attendees for the unwavering dedication to addressing the issue.

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AGENDA

Final Agenda

VIDEOS

Video message - by Ms. Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations

Save lives with the UNRSF – by the United Nation Road Safety Fund secretariat

POWER POINT PRESENTATIONS

Preparation of the Global Plan of Action - by Mr. Robert Nowak, Economic Affairs Officer, UNECE

United Nations Road Safety Fund progress - by Mr. Romain Hubert, Acting Head, UNRSF Secretariat

MEETING REPORT

Meeting report

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS