LAGOS – GreenLight Initiative has pushed for the implementation of Africa Call For Action On Road Safety at the just concluded Eighth Global Meeting of Nongovernmental Organisations, advocating for Road Safety and Road Victims, at the Global meeting held in San Salvador, El Salvador from 6-10 March 2023.
The theme for the Global Meeting is; Rethinking road safety: Mobility for people and the planet. The eighth global meeting brought together 214 participants from 61 countries.
As part of the activities for the eighth global meeting for road safety, the Africa Regional Chapter of the Global Alliance held its chapter meeting, where GreenLight Initiative alongside other road safety nongovernmental organizations in Africa adopted the Africa Call for Action.
The call for action, calls on all Governments in Africa to prioritize road safety, demonstrate strategic leadership, and ascertain commitment by planning, funding, and full implementation of road safety interventions through political ownership, positioning road safety as a national priority, recognizing it is an integral part of the wider 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and publicly articulating a long-term measurable vision.
Components of the call for action include; evidence-based actions that focus on people, especially pedestrians and vulnerable road users; investment in road safety; and civil society involvement in decision-making processes.
The African call for action is in line with the United Nations Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030. It calls for the reduction of road deaths and injuries by 50% by 2030.
It is important to note that Nigeria’s roads are estimated to account for 21.4 deaths per 100000 population according to the global status report by the World Health Organization (WHO). It is for this reason that GreenLight Initiative calls for the implementation of the call for action in Nigeria as adopted by the Africa Regional Chapter of the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety.
The implementation of this call to action will reduce deaths and serious injury on our roads as well as stimulate the achievement of the UN Global Sustainable Goals, especially SDG 3.6, 11.2, and 13.
Registered as GreenLight Development Centre, GreenLight Initiative is a non-profit organization that promotes road safety, and safe and sustainable mobility in Africa.
Source: The Guardian
