UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on Governments to release national plans for the Decade of Action for Road Safety when it is launched on 11 May 2011.
In a message issued on 21 November to commemorate the World Day of Remembrance of Road Traffic Victims the UN Secretary General called on all countries, international organisations, the private sector and community leaders to ensure that the Decade of Action for Road Safety leads to “real improvements” to save lives.
He highlighted the “proven, simple measures” that need to be implemented if millions of lives are to be saved during the Decade of Action.
He also said that the UN Road Safety Collaboration – which includes the FIA Foundation as a member – will soon release a global plan for the Decade. Among key measures, the plan will call for programmes to make roads and vehicles safer, improve the behaviour of drivers and pedestrians, and enhance emergency services.
Ban Ki-moon said the best way to honour the memory of the millions of road victims is to take action.
“If we all take these and other simple measures, we can give real meaning to this observance, thereby honouring the memory of the victims in the best way possible: with action to spare the lives of others.”
Also coinciding with the World Day of Remembrance was a BBC documentary on the global road deaths epidemic.
The documentary broadcast on both the BBC World Service and BBC Radio 4 in November visits some of the most dangerous roads in Kenya and Costa Rica asking whether the new UN Decade of Action for Road Safety can actually work on the ground.
BBC correspondent Sheena Macdonald witnessed the scale of the carnage on Kenya’s and Costa Rica’s roads and talks to the people it is affecting. She also interviewed Chairman of the Commission for Global Road Safety, Lord Robertson who calls for urgent action.
The documentary was broadcast throughout the month, with the final airing on 22 November at 20.30pm on Radio 4.
The Radio 4 version available online at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vy328
And the World Service version is here >
To download copies of the UN Secretary General’s statement click here >