An island country situated in the Caribbean Sea, Jamaica is a middle-income country with 2.79 million inhabitants. WHO estimates 320 road traffic fatalities annually, and according to data from Jamaica’s Constabulary Force, pedestrians represent almost 30% of deaths on the road. According to the WHO, Jamaica has strong laws addressing helmet and seat belt use; however drink driving, speed limit, and child restraint laws need to be improved. Jamaica has not acceded to any of six UN Road Safety Conventions.
Mr. Michael Henry, Minister of Transport of Jamaica
As a follow up to their last meeting in August 2016, the Special Envoy provided updates on his activities and gave an overview of his upcoming priorities, as well as mentioned the UN Road Safety Conventions, to which Jamaica is not a contracting party. These Conventions are a basis for addressing top risk factors such as speed, drink-driving, and child restraint use. The Minister highlighted that lack of responsiveness in Jamaican administration and lengthy processes have hindered accession to Conventions. The Special Envoy also underlined the need for increased law enforcement on key risk factors and mentioned that the process for obtaining driving licences needs to be improved. The Special Envoy outlined five pillars of the Global Plan and highlighted the importance of education. The Special Envoy shared with the Minister suggestions to improve road safety in the region by collaborating with all Caribbean countries through CARICOM.
Ms. Kamina Johnson Smith, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica
The Special Envoy briefly met with the Minister and gave an overview of his mandate and shared about his activities and current priorities, especially to promote the UN Road Safety Conventions and the potential establishment of UN Road Safety Fund.
Ms. Sheila Sealy Monteith, Under-Secretary for Multilateral Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica
The Special Envoy gave an overview of his mandate and highlighted promotion of UN Road Safety Conventions, to which Jamaica has not acceded. The Special Envoy presented his recent road safety initiatives including the draft proposal for the establishment of a UN Road Safety Fund, to which he welcomed support from Jamaica.
National Road Safety Council of Jamaica
The Council presented an overview of their activities to the Special Envoy and the evolution of the number of road crashes in Jamaica. After a long period of decline, the number of road crashes started to increase due to an exponential increase of the number of motorcycles in Jamaica in recent years. The Council presented their Save 300 Lives programme endorsed by the Prime Minister in 2008, aimed at reducing a number of road crashes to under 300 annually, in order to achieve the 2020 target of halving road traffic fatalities. They also mentioned their partnership with John Hopkins University and existing challenges in funding. The Special Envoy gave an overview of five pillars of the Global Plan, insisting on importance of public education and increased law enforcement.
The following members of the NRSC were present at the meeting:
o Mr. Lucien Jones, Vice-Chairman and Convenor of the National Road Safety Council
o Mr. Earl Jarrett, Member of the National Road Safety Council of Jamaica
o Ms. Paula Fletcher, Executive Director of the National Road Safety Council
United Nations Country Team of Jamaica
On 9 May, the Special Envoy met with the UN Country Team and provided update on his recent activities and upcoming priorities. The Special Envoy met some UNCT members during his last visit to Kingston in August 2016. The Special Envoy shared about his participation at the #SlowDown event hosted by H.E. Mr. Andrew Holness, Prime Minister of Jamaica in the framework of the UN Road Safety Week. The Special Envoy outlined five pillars of the Global Plan and highlighted the importance of public education on road safety, a strategy that could be encouraged by the UNCT to government of Jamaica. Finally, the Special Envoy encouraged the UNCT to advocate for government accession to UN Road Safety Conventions.
The UN Country Team presented its road safety activities and shared about some challenges, such as lack of adequate post-crash care response, lack of law enforcement for helmet use, drink-driving, and driving under influence of drugs. Mr. Pouezat presented United Nations Multi-Country Sustainable Development Framework (UN MSDF) for the period of January 2017 through December 2021, and mentioned inclusion of road safety on its agenda. In addition, they discussed the opportunity to engage the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), a community of fifteen Caribbean States with the objective to promote economic integration and cooperation among its members. Finally, the Special Envoy and the UN Country Team agreed to promote the inclusion of road safety on UN MSDF of all Caribbean States.
The following members of the UN Country Team participated at the meeting:
The following members of the UN Country Team participated at the meeting:
o Mr. Bruno Pouezat, UN Resident Coordinator
o Mr. Mark Connolly, UNICEF Representative
o Dr. Noreen Jack, PAHO/WHO Representative
o Ms. Elsie Laurence-Chounoune, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative
o Mr. Yitbarek Zewdie Beshah, UNFPA, Officer-in-Charge
o Ms. Mickelle Hughes, UN Coordination Analyst