On 5 October, the Special Envoy spoke at the “Steering India towards Safer Roads” session of the World Economic Forum Summit in New Delhi, alongside H.E. Mr. Nitin Jairan Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport. In his remarks, the Special Envoy applauded Indian government’s recent efforts to put forward the Amendment to Motor Vehicles Act, which is currently under consideration, and encouraged stronger collaboration between all relevant stakeholders. The objective of the Session was to raise awareness about road safety as a sustainable development challenge in India. A country in South-Asia with a population of 1.3 billion inhabitants, India is the second most populous country in the world. According to WHO, it is estimated to have 207,551 road traffic fatalities annually, with the rate of 16.6 deaths per 100,000 people. The WHO’s assessment suggests that India has strong laws addressing safety-belt use, however the remaining four risk factors, such as drink driving, speeding, helmet use and child restraint laws need to be improved. India is a contracting party to two out of six UN Road Safety Conventions.
During his trip to India, the Special Envoy also held meetings to advocate with the Government officials and met UN Country Team of India:
H.E. Mr. Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation of India
H.E. Mr. Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation of India
On 5 October, the Special Envoy met with the Minister, outlined the terms of his mandate, and gave an overview of his current priorities. The Minister shared that the government expects the new Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill to be approved and noted close collaboration with the World Bank. The Special Envoy welcomed and supported the proposed Amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act, which calls for stronger law enforcement, better road safety governance and higher compensation for families of accident victims, among other significant measures. The Minister emphasized that public transport and electric mobility were among his priorities, and gave an overview of a new driver training program.
United Nations Country Team of India
On 6 October, the Special Envoy met with the UN Country Team and shared the terms of his mandate as well as provided an overview of his activities. They discussed on-going efforts to improve road safety in India, and the Special Envoy called for UN Country Team’s support in encouraging India’s accession to all six UN Road Safety Conventions and successful implementation of those they have already acceded. In conclusion, the Special Envoy emphasized the importance of including road safety into public education curriculum and as a key component in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda.
The following members of the UN Country Team participated at the meeting:
o Ms. Yasmin Ali Haque, RC a.i. and UNICEF Representative
o Ms. Michiko Enomoto, Head, APCTT-ESCAP, Asian & Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (APCTT)
o Ms. Wanphen Sreshthaputra-Korotki, Social Affairs Officer, ESCAP
o Mr. Sher Singh Verick, PhD, Deputy Country Director, ILO
o Ms. Marina Walter, Deputy Country Director, UNDP
o Mr. Sergey Kapinos, Representative, UNODC
o Mr. Rajiv Chandran, Officer-in-charge, UNIC
o Dr. Gaurav Gupta, WHO
o Mr. Fikru Tullu, WHO
o Mr.Ruslan Bakishev, Deputy Security Adviser, India & Bhutan, UNDSS
o Mr. Hitesh Vaidya, Country Representative for India, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), HUDCO's Human Settlement Management Institute (HSMI) UN-HABITAT
o Mr. Arun Sahdeo, Programme Officer, UNV