Shaw to explore road safety solutions at UN meeting
Published:Wednesday | June 29, 2022 | 12:09 AM
Minister of Transport Audley Shaw is to explore opportunities for collaboration on solutions to deal with Jamaica’s road safety plague at the United Nations Road Safety Fund (UNRSF) High-Level Meeting on Improving Global Road Safety at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Member states will convene the High-Level Meeting on Road Safety from June 30-July 1 under the theme ‘The 2030 horizon for road safety: securing a decade of action and delivery’.
According to a release issued by the transport ministry, the UN High-Level Meeting and First Pledging Conference provide an opportunity to improve Jamaica’s presence on the global stage and identify collaborative opportunities with the UNRSF and other donor agencies.
Consequently, Shaw said he will explore fully collaborations on solutions to address the issue of road safety, which is a cause for concern in Jamaica. Road deaths totalled more than 400 last year and the number is projected to pass the 400 mark this year again. June is being observed as Road Safety Month.
Shaw will deliver Jamaica’s plenary statement in support of the Second Decade of Action at the general assembly hall during the meeting. Jamaica is further scheduled to co-host the pledging event, serving as an advocate for the replenishment of the UNSRF which targets road safety projects in developing countries.
The transport minister will also give the keynote address at Panel 1 of the multi-stakeholder panels, where he will focus on “Mainstreaming road safety into sustainable development: political will and whole of government approach”.
The UNRSF was established in 2018 to provide funding to developing countries to support road safety projects geared towards improving their road safety architecture in accordance with the Safe Systems Approach.