SaferAfrica Webinar Series: Road Safety Data Practices in Africa on 20 December
As a member of the SaferAfrica consortium, IRF took the lead and presented the first two of a series of webinars intended for anyone involved in African Road safety management, research and education. The third webinar will be staged on 20 December and will present results of the research carried out on road safety data practices in Africa.
In October 2018, the Horizon 2020 EU-funded SaferAfrica project, of which IRF is a consortium member, started a successful series of webinar sessions. The first couple of sessions recorded participants from 4 continents and 17 countries, comprising 10 African countries such as Cameroon, Ethiopia and Nigeria, and included stakeholders from institutions, road safety professionals, academics, NGOs and policy makers.
The first webinar, held on 29th October 2018 by IRF Director General Susanna Zammataro, was an introductory session providing background on the SaferAfrica project and highlighted key focus areas. It offered a brief overview on the African Road Safety Observatory and the Digital Dialogue Platform including the crowdsourcing functionality, which allows everyone to participate in making African roads safer.
Mid-November, the second webinar was hosted by Dr. Cristian Gonzalez, IRF Director of Data & Statistics. This session on Data Collection and Management discussed existing methods of road safety data collection (best practices, methods and tools), drew awareness to the discrepancies often found between official national data and WHO estimates, and provided suggestions on how to bridge these. In particular for developing countries, the need to centralise data from local sources such as the police, health services (ambulances, hospitals etc.) and government institutions was highlighted in order to obtain a more accurate picture and to be able to draw meaningful conclusions with regard to road safety.
The third webinar will be held on 20th December 2018 by Prof. George Yannis, Professor in Traffic Safety and Management at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). This session will address road safety data practices in Africa as documented in the context of SaferAfrica project. Initially the findings from a review on road safety data collection systems and definitions will be presented. At a second stage, recommendations and guidelines for a minimum set of harmonised data collection procedures and standard definitions will be provided applied in the short– to medium term aiming to improve African data collection systems. Finally, the road safety data collected in previous phases will be analysed and certain risk factors based on specific topics will be identified and reported.
To sign up for the SaferAfrica webinars, or to watch the recordings of webinars one and two, please visit the following website:
http://www.africanroadsafetyobservatory.org/road-safety-knowledge/capacity-building/saferafrica-webinars/
For more information, please contact the IRF Secretariat: info[@]irfnet.ch
IRF at the International Traffic Safety Conference in Qatar
Under the patronage of H.E. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Al-Thani, the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior for the State of Qatar, Qatar University and the Ministry of Interior Qatar together with IRF (Geneva) organized the International Traffic Safety Conference (ITSC) which took place on 26 and 27 November.
The concern about road safety has significantly grown over the past years in Qatar. The National Road Safety Action Plan was developed in 2013 as the first step towards achieving the ambitious vision outlined in the Qatar National Traffic Safety Strategy (2013-2022) for “a safe road transport system that protects all road users from death and serious injury”.
Speaking at the inaugural session of the conference, the Minister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti said that: “We have taken great steps in the development of infrastructure including modern road networks, metro and mass transport, and the completion of large proportions in the construction of the stadiums for Qatar World Cup 2022 while a plan for linking land, air and sea transport has been developed.” He pointed that the objectives of the National Traffic Safety Strategy were also developed to include sustainable transport, traffic safety, national economy and security.
Major General Mohamed Saad al Kharji, Vice-Chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee, said that the second phase of the implementation plan for the National Traffic Safety Strategy (2018-2022), which was launched in 2018, is underway. “This requires exceptional efforts, cooperation from all sides, and adoption of an unprecedented mechanism of implementation to address traffic problems, and the achievement of 2022 goals with high efficiency and on time.” He said that although good results were achieved during the first phase of the National Traffic Safety Strategy 2013-2017, there is a major challenge ahead, which is to reduce the mortality rate by 10 deaths per year compared to 2017, to achieve the target of 2022.
Susanna Zammataro, IRF Director General was invited to deliver a keynote. Her address focused on the importance of data to benchmark road safety performance but most of it to ensure priorities are adequately addressed. The new IRF Global Road Data Warehouse was presented and some of the dashboards on road safety where shown to illustrate with a concrete example why data is so important and how it can be used.
Speaking in the panel, Mrs Zammataro said: “While we get ready to convene in 2020 in Sweden for a key Ministerial Meeting that will mark the end of the Decade of Action and probably request a deferral of the current target to 2030, we need to keep in mind that a long-term view always improves our view of the short term.
A long-term view can only be based on good data. Without reliable data, we cannot put in place effective policies and interventions. It is fundamental that data on all aspects of a Safe System are properly collected and analysed”. She added “Investing in capacity building is definitively a sensible road safety strategy both in the short and in the long term. And we are delighted to work on training programmes with the University of Qatar and the Transportation and Traffic Safety Centre (TTSC) in particular. Qatar with its road safety strategy and action plan is on the right path. The path that leads to the Safe System approach. The path that will ensure safe journeys to everyone”.
An IRF Africa Board to foster collaboration and coordination on the continent
The International Road Federation is pleased to announce the creation of an IRF Africa Board, whose first meeting occurred on the afternoon of 12th November 2018 in Marrakesh, Morocco. The meeting took place with the backdrop of the events surrounding the 1st African Road Safety Forum, an insightful conference which brought together the international Road Safety community in Marrakesh from 13-15th November 2018.
In line with its mission to promote the development of roads and road networks that enable access and sustainability for all, IRF Geneva has been organising numerous activities in Africa over the past seven decades. Given the growing needs and requests of support received by the IRF from African stakeholders, IRF has decided to strengthen its action and presence through an IRF AFRICA. The objective being to customise, localise and coordinate programmes being implemented in Africa and to facilitate and further strengthen collaboration with African partners with whom those programmes will be implemented.
The Board of IRF Africa is composed of members from prominent African Institutions, multilateral development banks, key regional and sub-regional Institutions and stakeholders.
The IRF Africa Board will meet quarterly and will operate at a strategic level, primarily performing an advisory role. Its responsibilities include in between others:
- Identifying and defining strategic areas of action.
- Defining the most suitable activities to address identified issues in order to maximise impact and value.
- Facilitating coordination and development of partnerships in Africa for the implementation of the defined activities.
- Supporting IRF in ensuring that priority areas and identified actions remain high and relevant in the political agenda.
For any questions or to get involved, please feel free to reach out to us at info[@]irfnet.ch or +41 22 306 0260.
IRF at the 2nd UN Working Party on Public-Private Partnerships
The International Road Federation was among the key stakeholders invited to attend the 2nd UN Working Party on Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), chaired by the United Nations Commission of Europe (UNECE), which took place at the UN Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on 20-21 November 2018. The primary focus was to continue the discussion surrounding how PPPs, and in particular the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), with its large infrastructure investments can best be used to promote the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Extensive discussions were held surrounding topics such as how best to establish an evaluation methodology which can effectively identify People-first PPPs that meet the UN SDGs. Whilst the economic and financial metrics to score projects exist, tools to measure social and environmental impact are lacking. The ten flagship People-first PPP projects, which will be selected from over 500 submissions, must showcase how PPPs can efficiently help to improve the quality of life of people when meeting the UN SDGs.
Further sessions centred on the need to encourage more inclusive multi-stakeholder models, which provide greater opportunities for local and foreign private sectors. This is particularly important since a large number of the PPP projects under consideration rely on resources of more than a single country, with many PPPs being drawn upon to overcome a lack of resources from aid agencies, governments and other public sectors. The debate reflected the importance of having a mechanism for different actors and stakeholders to meet regularly, such as the international BRI PPP dialogue, in order to establish clear objectives and to focus on concrete outcomes. In addition, it is crucial to involve those who are affected by the development of a project, including the future users. Projects coming out of BRI should be developed and implemented meeting international labour and environmental standards. It was agreed that it would be beneficial to develop guidelines or criteria of good conduct ensuring that all stakeholders and private sector entities benefit equally from the opportunities arising from the BRI.
Environmental sustainability, which is identified as one of the five outcomes of people-first PPPs, was another core discussion topic, as participants recognised that large-scale infrastructure projects oftentimes pose environmental challenges and that it must be ensured that projects are not undertaken at the expense of the environment. Participants agreed that environmental criteria should be monitored accordingly, using international environment-related standards, as these could play a strong role to limit the damage to the environment. The UNECE ESPOO Convention was mentioned as providing the most useful standard for the undertaking of environmental impact assessment including the transboundary dimension. This convention allows parties to require that a neighbouring country undertakes an Environmental Impact Assessment on projects with potential negative environmental impacts. Its influence extends beyond the signatories, providing important principles which countries can follow. Beyond the economic effectiveness, Environmental Impact Assessment tools should be widely implemented and further integrated into the people-first evaluation methodology.
As the Working Party came to a close, some potential topics for the next dialogue were identified. These include building operational level people-first PPP capability development in countries, fair and open procurement with zero tolerance to corruption, as well as women’s empowerment in people-first projects.
The IRF who is also a Board member of the Belt and Road Transport Alliance (BRITA) will keep bridging and lending its expertise to the different forums of discussion and coordination within and outside the UN.
For more information, please contact the IRF Secretariat at info[@]irfnet.ch
Safe Roads, Safe Kids! Project presented at the FIA Foundation GA
Every year 186 300 children die from road traffic crashes around the world. That’s more than 500 children every day. Road traffic injury ranks among the top four causes of death for all children over the age of five years.
Safe Roads, Safe Kids! aims to build an evidence-based case that can be replicated in the rest of Morocco and exported also to other francophone countries. In its first phase, the initiative is targeting some of the poorest schools in Casablanca, Morocco’s largest city, where the children confront severe risks on their daily journey. Children can face traffic speeding at over 60km/h on their journey to and from school. They are typically exposed and unprotected with the majority travelling as pedestrians, walking from their homes to school.
The first school targeted is the Rhamna Primary School in the Sidi Moumen district of Casablanca, an area characterised by relatively high levels of poverty. Situated on a busy intersection, this school has over 1000 pupils, with nearly all walking to their classes each day. There is little protection for the children of Rhamna, a lack of safe sidewalks, few safe crossings and existing road infrastructure which does not slow traffic speed where children are present.
At Rhamna Primary, the IRF, MCM and their partners will use iRAP’s ‘Star Rating for Schools’ methodology to assess the safety of the surrounding road network, and will present a 1-5 star rating. The partners will also work with AMEND’s methodology to identify which countermeasures – such as safe sidewalks, road humps and crossings - should be implemented to reduce risk and improve safety.
Safe Roads, Safe Kids! will then be implemented at two further schools, the Moussa Ibnou Noussaïr school, also in Sidi Moumen, and the Tit Mellil school, a rural primary school.
Following the training of local partners, and the campaign for drivers and children, the training of trainers workshop was hosted in Casablanca on 29 and 30 October.
The project has been selected by the FIA Foundation to be presented at its General Assembly which was hosted this year in St. Petersburg on 6th December.
For more info, please contact IRF Secretariat at info[@]irfnet.ch
YOURS runs panel on "Meaningful Youth Engagement in Road Safety"
On 19 November 2018, YOURS co-organized a high-level international road safety conference in Malta. The Government of Malta and the European Regional Office of the World Health Organization asked YOURS to Chair and bring together a panel that would discuss meaningful youth engagement in designing a safe mobility system. In other words, discuss the importance of effective youth involvement in policymaking, implementation, and evaluation.
The event culminated in high level speeches from the Prime-Minister of Malta (video), the Deputy Prime-Minister of Malta, United Nations Secretary-General Special Envoy Jean Todt and various very moving stories from road victims. Subsequently, the panel on meaningful youth participation kicked off.
YOURS brought together a panel of specialists and experts working with youth, or being a youth advocate themselves. The panel was chaired and moderated by Floor Lieshout, Executive Director of YOURS. Some summaries from the panellists are included hereunder:
Jacob Smith - Global Youth Advocate for Road Safety at YOURS
"My goal is to create a generation of youth road safety advocates, helping to ensure that future generations will not have to suffer from the burden of preventable road traffic deaths and injuries”.
Rebecca Ashton-Dziedzan - Campaign and Media Manager at the FIA Foundation
"It is clear that the unique needs, and voices, of young people in many cities are being not being heard. Many emerging health issues for adolescents, including road traffic injury, continue to be neglected and lack of participation, lack of connection with policy makers continues to play a huge part in this”.
Alex Esposito - Public Health Officer at Malta Medical Students Association
"Over the past few years, road safety has been increasing in importance on the national agenda with many multi-stakeholder initiatives focusing on raising awareness and educating the public about the dangers that they may expose themselves to by being unsafe on the roads”.
Priscilla Le Lièvre - Project officer at ETSC
"The fatality of drivers aged 15-24 is up to twice as high as that of more experienced drivers. The risks are even higher for young moped and motorcycle riders. In some member states, over 40% of moped and motorcycle under 25 had been in a collision in the last twelve months”.
Chiara Vassallo - Finance Officer at Malta's National Youth Council
"Having put forward policy proposals in the past, our aim has always been to assess as many spheres of youth’s lives. This goes from proposals on work to civic education, to mental health etc. Of course, Road Safety is one that could not be left out”.
An overarching theme of the panel was to illustrate the important work young people can do to reduce road traffic crashes. Ultimately, a shift is needed; to stop seeing young people as the problem but rather as an asset, key players that can help provide innovative solutions to the road safety crisis facing their peers.
A new mobility strategy for Valle de Bravo with the participation of the community
SIA was awarded with a project in Valle de Bravo, Mexico. With local and regional centre of activities, this city has very active weekend activities and has been one of the main destinations for weekends for the inhabitants of Mexico City. Valle de Bravo is situated in the State of Mexico and is around 200 km from the city. There is a lake for sailing or other water activities and many kilometres of paths for hiking, cycling, and many other outdoor sports.
The town is around two hundred years old, so its infrastructure is not very adequate for cars. There are a lot of motorcycles and many mobility problems needed to be tackled. The government officers defined that there should not be a project without the population’s participation, including local residents, as well as regional tourists and weekenders, making Valle TeTransporta a comprehensive and inclusive study and SIA was in charge of the project.
The study consisted in having workshops with all the stakeholders, to define problems and solutions in a participative manner, as well as joining the different results to one statistical analysis. This includes social groups with interests and permanent rejecters to participate and that tried to push toward their own side.
The main objectives were to define what mobility, congestion and safety for people in the city’s context meant for the community. This was accompanied by prioritising concerns and issues around mobility. The scope of the discussion included themes related to design and engineering, local services, road operations and modes of transportation.
After this first analysis, SIA worked with the community to do participatory maps related to some of the concerns, co-produce guidelines for potential solutions, as well as to validate technical projects proposed by the state and local government. Some of the topics discussed were signalling, policies and rules for heavy vehicles and suppliers, livelihood rules, taxies regulations, parking alternatives, public transportation both by roads and by water.
Other subjects attended in the workshops and the polls were related to tourism, schools, religious festivities, markets and street salespeople, emergency services, public area maintenance.
For some of the topics, we created online and face to face polls for specific groups related to some of the potential solutions.
Once the workshops were finished, SIA prepared a plan for the State Government with all the alternatives mapped and defined by the community, creating guidelines to direct the technical and feasibility projects that followed.
In the end, the new mobility strategy for Valle de Bravo is a participative plan made by the community but directed by road operations, mobility and social development professionals. It also connects to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
This strategy will guide the new technical teams, as well as the government, to first include what is important to the city’s people, to bring solutions that acknowledge their concerns, and create social capital for further collaboration. The result will mitigate common social risks in the region an achieve the state’s vision of enhancing the community’s well-being by a comprehensive mobility and infrastructure project.
