By Road safety has been an ongoing challenge in Africa. The region registered the highest road fatality rate in the world with 26.6 per 1,000 population, generating significant health and socioeconomic implications.
Therefore, we are strongly committed to the African region, and we believe it all starts with educating on the importance of road safety in order to implement concrete measures, particularly in an area with such a high rate of deaths and injuries related to road traffic.
Thanks to our collaboration with UNITAR and eThekwini Municipal Academy, we were able to successfully carry out the 2018 Road Safety Africa Conference in Johannesburg. The main focus during the event was to improve Road Safety through the implementation of targeted interventions with senior government authorities, private sector executives, international organizations representatives, and academia experts.
Thankfully, we were also able to introduce the Network for Universities on Road Safety initiative. Our goal was to educate and promote research into road safety, combining the high-level knowledge and academic expertise from the Network with our ambition to be the global leader for road safety strategies.
The Network for Universities on Road Safety will continue to meet regularly to:
- Review ongoing work
- Identify how academic institutions are contributing to road safety
- Highlight the impact of initiatives addressing current challenges
As we continue to work with our partners, including both UNITAR and the governments of the countries and cities—such as Johannesburg, South Africa—where we support road safety programs, we are sure our efforts will lead to tangible results and help save lives.
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