Regional Stakeholders Convene in Marrakech for Safe and Inclusive Road Design Workshop
Marrakech, Morocco | 8 to 9 October 2025 — Senior government officials, development partners and road safety experts from across North and West Africa gathered this week in Marrakech for a two-day stakeholder consultation workshop on the Safe and Inclusive Road Design in North and West Africa Project which aims to improve road safety in Morocco, Mauritania, and Senegal. It will update outdated design standards to better protect vulnerable road users like pedestrians, cyclists, and the elderly.
Organised by the International Road Federation (IRF) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA) with support from the UN Road Safety Fund (UNRSF) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) the workshop marks a key milestone in the co-development of safer, more inclusive national road design standards in Mauritania, Morocco, and Senegal.
Integrating Road Safety at the Design Stage
Opening the workshop, Benacer Boulaajoul, General Director of Morocco's National Road Safety Agency, observed that "the design of road infrastructure has a decisive influence on road safety performance. However, this aspect does not always receive the priority it deserves".
Malick Fall, Director of Transport Prevention and Safety at Mauritania’s Ministry of Equipment and Transport (MET), highlighted how the project supports the country’s efforts to align road safety policies with global best practices.
He emphasised that Mauritania, with over 6,000 km of roads and more than 2,000 km under development, aims to systematically integrate safety into every design phase.
“We are committed to revising our road design standards to reflect international norms. This means incorporating features such as safer shoulders, pedestrian and cyclist facilities, and design-based speed management to reduce crashes and protect all users”, Malick Fall
Senegal's Head of Delegation Mamoudou Alassane Camara concurred, noting that Senegal has the opportunity to build road infrastructure that saves lives by integrating safety at the design stage. "Investing in safer roads today means ensuring a future of responsible and sustainable mobility for all".
Financing Safer Roads
In addition to the IsDB, representatives from four financial institutions active in the region joined the consultation workshop, underscoring how road safety interlocks with their overarching framework for sustainable transport lending.
Derran Williams, Senior Health and Safety Adviser at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), presented a development finance perspective on embedding road safety within infrastructure investments.
He outlined the EBRD’s safety requirements for funded projects and the importance of aligning all multilateral development banks’ environmental and social frameworks with robust road safety standards.
Williams shared a case study on a 200-km dual carriageway project jointly implemented by EBRD and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), where a road safety audit revealed critical concerns. These include inadequate crossings, reduced local connectivity, and hazards involving at-grade rail intersections and livestock on the road.
Engineering Safer Highways
Hind Meziane, from Autoroutes du Maroc, provided a technical deep dive into Morocco’s updated geometric design standards for safe motorway projects.
Drawing from the Instructions sur les Conditions Techniques d’Aménagement des Autoroutes de Liaison (ICTAAL) framework, Meziane explained how design parameters such as visibility, curvature, gradient, drainage and interchange spacing directly impact road safety and user comfort.
She emphasised that safe road design requires anticipating driver behavior, optimising visibility and preventing sudden changes in alignment that can surprise drivers. Her presentation highlighted Morocco’s focus on design coherence, which avoids long straight alignments, ensuring proper sight distance, managing slopes to control speed, and planning interchanges in strategic and safe locations.
A Shared Vision for Safer, More Inclusive Roads
The second day of the workshop included an immersive overview of safe and resilient design standards applied to large-scale road project, the rehabilitation and widening of National Road 8, East of Marrakech.
Participants followed this with a visit to an active worksite. This allowed participants to explore how road safety is addressed at every stage of the project, through a host of measures ranging from median separation to a dedicated lane for two-wheelers.
Participants reiterated the need to institutionalise safer design practices, build local technical capacity, and scale pilot projects that demonstrate measurable safety benefits, particularly where vulnerable road users are concerned.
“The UN places road safety at the top of its agenda, given that the human and economic costs of lack of sufficient and effective road safety measures remain very high throughout North and West Africa. This process is not just about technical guidelines, it’s about building a foundational culture of safety where infrastructure serves people and ensures every journey is a safe one”, - Adel Alghaberi, UNESCWA.
Ten Steps to 2030 for Safer Road Infrastructure: A Global Roadmap for Safer Roads
The road to safer infrastructure is paved with collaboration, innovation, and commitment. The Ten Steps to 2030 for Safer Road Infrastructure event, hosted by the International Road Federation (IRF), in partnership with the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) and the World Road Association (PIARC), brought together global leaders, policymakers, and road safety experts on 17 February 2025. Held as a side event during the 4th Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Marrakech, Morocco, the event focused on how infrastructure can be a driving force behind the United Nations’ goal of halving road fatalities and injuries by 2030.
With an overwhelming turnout and lively discussions, the event highlighted the Ten Steps Plan for Safer Road Infrastructure as a practical roadmap for governments. Participants explored how this framework, addressing challenges in policy, design, and implementation, is critical to saving lives and improving road safety globally.
Developed by the UN Road Safety Collaboration, the Ten Step Plan for Safer Road Infrastructure offers a structured approach to tackling road safety challenges. The plan targets high-risk roads through infrastructure upgrades, strengthens road safety expertise via capacity building, and advocates for evidence-based interventions based on crash data and risk assessment methodologies. To be successful, it requires political commitment, institutional capacity, and sustainable financing—three pillars that must underpin efforts to achieve the ambitious 2030 goals.
A shining example of the Ten Steps framework in action is Tanzania’s progress as the first pilot country for the initiative. Backed by the UN Road Safety Fund (UNRSF) and the Global Road Safety Facility, Tanzania made substantial progress over a 30-month period. This success earned the 2023 Prince Michael International Road Safety Award for its remarkable impact, illustrating how the Ten Steps framework, supported by strong partnerships and political will, can transform road safety.
The Ten Steps framework is now extending its reach into Central Asia, Senegal and North and West Africa.
The event reinforced several key principles crucial for advancing global road safety:
- Capacity Building: Empowering professionals through training, such as the IRF’s International Registry of Road Safety Auditors.
- Data-Driven Decisions: Utilising tools like the IRF World Road Statistics to assess risks and guide investments where they are needed most.
- Global Partnerships: as IRF’s mission statement tells “Connecting to Empower Mobility”, partnerships are crucial in supporting road safety worldwide.
- Innovation and Technology: AI-driven assessments and crash data collection are changing how safety interventions are implemented.
Senegal launches Ten-Step Plan for Safer Road Infrastructure
The Republic of Senegal officially launched “Senegal’s Ten-Step Plan for Safer Road Infrastructure” Project last Thursday in Dakar. The event, which brought together the main national and international road safety stakeholders, marks a strong commitment by the country to drastically reduce the number of crashes and deaths and injuries on its roads.
The implementation of the Ten Step Plan will be overseen by a Steering Committee comprised of key road safety organisations in Senegal. The Committee, whose inaugural meeting was held on January 22, on the eve of the Project Kick-off Workshop, will ensure effective coordination and monitoring of progress.
The three-year project is the result of collaboration between the Government of Senegal and national and international partners to strengthen institutional capacity and investments for safer roads in the country – with the aim of improving existing and future roads to achieve a three-star or higher safety standard for pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and vehicle occupants.
The Ten Step Senegal Project, funded by the United Nations Road Safety Fund (UNRSF), is a collaborative initiative involving the Government of Senegal through the Ministry of Infrastructure, Land, and Air Transport (MITTA) and National Road Agency ANASER, alongside a consortium led by the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) and including the International Road Federation (IRF), PIARC (World Road Association) and LASER International, with support from the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) and FIA Foundation.
The World Health Organization estimates that road crashes claim more than 3,500 lives every year in Senegal, and result in over 40,000 more injuries, with a national economic burden of US $1.4 billion. National data shows road crashes are the leading cause of death among young people aged 15 to 24, and the second leading cause among 25-39 year-olds, after AIDS.
Senegal is only the second country in the Africa to use the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration (UNRSC) Ten Steps approach, following its award-winning implementation in Tanzania. The Ten Step Plan framework has been produced by the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration (UNRSC) partners to support countries seeking to implement initiatives in relation to the “improved safety of road infrastructure and broader transport networks”, the UN Convention on Road Traffic and Road Signs and Signals, and the achievement of UN Member States agreed Global Targets 3 and 4 for safer new and existing roads.
“We are proud to see Senegal embracing the Ten Step approach which has proven to be so effective in instituting an evidence-based framework for action that saves lives,” commented Susanna Zammataro, Director General at the International Road Federation (IRF). “The sector has the tools to design and build safer roads, but these must be more widely known and implemented. It is about making meaningful decisions that will save thousands of lives,” she added.
