UN Road Safety Forum Hears Ministerial Pledge

The Government of Oman has confirmed that it will introduce a resolution to the United Nations calling for a UN Ministerial Conference on road safety – a key demand of the Make Roads Safe campaign.

Speaking at the 2nd UN Global Road Safety Stakeholders Forum, organised at the United Nations in Geneva as part of UN Global Road Safety Week, Wahid Al-Kharusi, Chairman of Oman’s National Program for Road Traffic Injuries, said: “Our government is intending to put forward for adoption a 5th UN resolution on road safety to request a UN Ministerial Meeting in 2010. This will ask for a road safety convention. I earnestly request your support and that of your countries to support the request of Oman and to vote with Oman at the United Nations for the UN Ministerial Meeting on Road Safety and to stand by Oman if she were to request for the hosting of this ministerial meeting on road safety in 2010”.

The Forum, chaired by Mark Rosenberg, a member of the Commission for Global Road Safety, also heard from fellow members of the Commission, Victor Kiryanov, Head of the Russian State Traffic Police, and Karla Gonzalez, Minister of Transport for Costa Rica, as well as senior officials from WHO and UNICEF and Swedish road safety chief Claes Tingvall.

Also speaking at the UN Forum, Saul Billingsley, a coordinator of the Make Roads Safe campaign, welcomed the Omani Government’s announcement: “Now we have this important commitment from Oman we have moved a step closer to our objective of securing a UN ministerial meeting. But there is a lot of work to do between now and November to build support for the proposal”, he said.

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