Michelle Yeoh, global ambassador of the Make Roads Safe campaign, will participate in this year’s Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting held in New York on September 22-25. The CGI, established by former US President Bill Clinton, brings together business, government and civil society leaders to undertake commitments to action across a range of economic and social issues. This year’s CGI will include road safety in a new action area ‘strengthening infrastructure’. At the CGI Michelle Yeoh will highlight the Make Roads Safe campaign, her documentary film ‘Turning Point’ and the forthcoming Moscow Ministerial Conference on global road safety.
Last year Michelle Yeoh participated in the CGI Asia Meeting held in Hong Kong in December and made a powerful plea for action on road safety. She described the experiences of some of the road crash victims she has met whilst filming her documentary in Africa, Costa Rica, India, and Vietnam and warned delegates that road traffic injuries, the world’s most neglected epidemic, are set to rise dramatically unless action is taken. During the Hong Kong meeting Michelle was able to brief Bill Clinton on the issue. In response the former US President gave his full support to the Make Roads Safe campaign and signed the Call for a Decade of Action for Road Safety commenting that: "Travel-related injuries and deaths affect millions of people around the world. I'm hopeful that action can be taken to ensure that no one dies before their time."
As a member of the Clinton CGI, the FIA Foundation will also participate in the New York meeting, represented by its Director General, David Ward. He will highlight the Foundation’s work with the International Road Assessment Programme supporting innovative road infrastructure safety projects in developing countries. Commenting on the forthcoming CGI, David Ward said: “We are delighted that Michelle Yeoh’s passionate appeal at last year’s CGI Asia to recognize road safety has been heard and the issue is on the agenda of this year’s meeting in New York. The new focus on infrastructure at the CGI will be a great platform to promote our call for a Decade of Action for Road Safety. We believe that the CGI is an ideal opportunity to make a strong commitment to action on road safety ahead of the Moscow Ministerial meeting on global road safety in November”.