Mr Trajko Veljanoski, President of the Assembly of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia speaking at the opening of the roundtable meeting.
Global Helmet Vaccine Initiative at the 25th FIA ETEC Contest
The potential of the Decade of Action to reduce casualties in Central & South East Europe was the subject for a roundtable organised by the FIA Foundation in Skopje, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, on 24th September.
The roundtable organised within the FIA Foundation’s Make Roads Safe campaign, in partnership with the FIA, the national automobile association for FYROM - AMSM - and the Eastern Alliance for Safe and Sustainable Transport (EASST) highlighted the importance of road safety as an emerging issue and also raised awareness of the forthcoming Decade of Action for Road Safety among Governments, FIA clubs, media and all interested parties in the region of Central and South East Europe. According to WHO’s European status report on road safety’ (2009), 120 000 people die annually and 2.4 million people are injured in road crashes in the Region. One third of the countries do not have a national, multi-sectoral strategy on road safety.
The meeting was opened by Mr Trajko Veljanoski, President of the Assembly of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, who also took part in an announcement of the new road safety ‘Tag’ together with Mr Werner Kraus, President of the FIA Region I and OAMTC, Mr Spase Jovkovski, President of the AMSM and other high-profile regional speakers at the event.
Dmitry Sambuk, international coordinator for the Make Roads Safe campaign, said: “Today we looked at some essential elements of the Decade – road users, roads and vehicles - and also discussed how we can implement road safety improvements in this region. There is clearly an excitement and appetite for serious action to reduce road casualties across the region.”
The roundtable meeting was held on the eve of the final of the 25th FIA European Traffic Education Contest, which also took place in Skopje and gathered more than 100 children from across Europe. The contest, supported by the FIA Foundation, teaches children essential cycling and safety skills. The Global Helmet Vaccine Initiative was also presented during the contest to highlight the importance of helmets wearing among young road users.