The Global Ministerial Conference in Moscow was a hugely significant turning point for global road safety. The Commission for Global Road Safety were greatly encouraged by the week’s three key developments:

• The ‘Moscow Declaration’ approved by the First Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety endorses the proposal for a UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, and establishes the basis for a global governmental framework for road safety, with the generous commitment of the Sultanate of Oman to host a second Ministerial in five years time. This is an unprecedented acknowledgement by the international community of the seriousness of this killer epidemic;

• The Statement of a ‘Shared Approach to Managing Road Safety’ from the World Bank and the six leading multilateral development banks (the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank) is a powerful and unequivocal pledge to make road safety a priority in the banks’ operations, and represents exactly the kind of leadership that the Make Roads Safe campaign has been calling for as we work towards the proposed ‘Decade of Action’;

• We have together taken a significant step towards achieving the Make Roads Safe campaign’s recommendation of US$ 300 million catalytic ‘start up’ global financing for road safety. The announcement by Bloomberg Philanthropies of a US $125 million investment in global road safety, coupled with the FIA Foundation’s €10 million commitment to the International Road Assessment Programme; and a £1.5 million grant from the UK Department for International Development to the World Bank Global Road Safety Facility means pledges made in Moscow of more than USD $ 140 million.

Working together, and in no small part due to the Russian Federation, we are close to achieving a breakthrough. But now governments, UN agencies, NGOs and all actors in the road safety community must take forward the momentum gained to the UN General Assembly in spring 2010 where a Decade of Action can be agreed. We must also redouble our efforts to secure the political and financial support necessary to build national road safety capacity and plans, and to implement the proven life-saving road safety vaccines that could save millions of lives in the years ahead.”

James Taylor
Global Manager, Arrive Alive
Chevron Corporation
San Ramon, CA