The United Nations General Assembly has given its support to the first UN global road safety week, which will be held in April 2007.
Approval for the week was one element of a new road safety resolution passed by the General Assembly in New York on October 26th 2005.
The resolution also invites Member States to implement the recommendations of the World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention and to instigate a World Day of Remembrance for the victims of road traffic crashes on the third Sunday in November every year.
The FIA Foundation’s Deputy Director Saul Billingsley participated in a briefing session for member states officials in New York prior to the UN debate on resolution A/60/L.8 Improving global road safety. The briefing panel also included representatives of the World Bank and WHO and was chaired by Ambassador Fuad Al Hinai of Oman, who tabled the resolution.
The first ever United Nations Global Road Safety Week, originally proposed to the UN-ECE by the FIA Foundation, was approved by the UN General Assembly and is scheduled to take place in the week beginning 23rd April 2007. It will take as its theme road safety for young road users, including young drivers.
The UN Road Safety Collaboration, mandated by a previous resolution in 2004 to coordinate an international response to road traffic injuries, was praised by the General Assembly for its work to date. The FIA Foundation will host the next meeting of the Collaboration in London in November 2005.
“This new UN resolution, supported by more than 80 countries, sends a strong political signal that road safety is a global concern”, commented David Ward, FIA Foundation Director General. The UN support for a global road safety week in 2007 means that the FIA Foundation and FIA automobile clubs now have a very strong platform on which to raise the profile of road safety at a national and international level.”
Download UN Resolution here >