David Ward, Director General, FIA Foundation
Ministers meeting at the first Global Ministerial Conference on road safety have approved the Moscow Declaration, which calls for a Decade of Action for Road Safety.
The historic conference, attended by around 70 ministers from countries across the world, approved the Declaration and agreed to hold a follow up Ministerial Conference in 5 years time to review progress.
In a closing session on the Decade of Action speakers from the WHO, World Bank, FIA Foundation and UK transport minister Paul Clark MP joined the head of the Russian traffic police, General Victor Kiryanov, and the Russian Interior Minister, Rashid Nurgaliev, to endorse the proposed Decade and to begin to set out plans for global coordination of the unprecedented effort to reduce road traffic injuries.
In his speech to the conference, Paul Clark reminded delegates that even during the two days of the summit more than 7000 people had died on the roads. “This cannot be right. This can and must be prevented”, he said. “We must go from here determined to make a difference. We are the people to act. This is the time for action”.
David Ward, Director General of the FIA Foundation, urged ministers to act. “You are the people who can make the Decade a reality”, he said.
The Moscow Declaration can be downloaded here >