As world leaders gathered in New York to attend the high level UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals, the Make Roads Safe campaign joined major NGOs from across the globe in a call to 'Stand Up' and take action against poverty.
The event at New York’s Lincoln Plaza on 19 September, the day before the Summit, was part of a series of ‘Stand Up’ rallies around the world where millions are calling on the UN to renew efforts to meet the MDGs.
Make Roads Safe was campaigning as part of the Global Call to Action against Poverty coalition which includes Oxfam, Save the Children, Action Aid, World Vision and the United Nations Millennium Campaign. At the rally, Make Roads Safe highlighted the contribution that road safety can make towards achieving the MDGs. The campaign is warning that failure to include road deaths in the MDGs is resulting in increased poverty and millions of preventable deaths.
High-profile campaigners from several of the participating organisations spoke at the rally. From the Make Roads Safe campaign, a film was shown featuring UN development expert Dr. Kevin Watkins on the link between road deaths and the development goals to combat poverty and improve education and health.
Dr. Watkins said: “This is a really crucial moment for the MDGs. Road traffic injuries are not part of the framework of the MDGs but they have a direct impact on many of the goals. It’s encouraging to see the wider development community begin to realise this and to recognise the role that the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety can play in helping to achieve the MDGs. It’s crucial that we take this agenda forward into this week’s UN MDG Summit.”
At the rally, on display for participants to sign were giant copies of 'The World We Want Charters' - documents from Africa, Asia and developing countries around the world that outline concrete actions for creating a world without poverty.
Alongside Action Aid, the Hunger Project, the UN Millennium Campaign and Global Action on Widowhood, the Make Roads Safe campaign also contributed to an exhibition booth focusing on 'MDG 1', the goal to eradicate poverty.