The UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety visited several countries in Latin America from 12 to 17 July to raise awareness in a region where road crashes are a crucial challenge. In Cuba, Ecuador, Peru and Colombia, the Special Envoy held meetings with different road safety stakeholders and called on government officials to adopt key UNECE road safety regulations.
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• In Ecuador, which has one of the highest road related casualty rates of the continent, the Special Envoy insisted on the importance of education to pursue a reduction in the number of road crash victims. He met with different government representatives: Mauricio Rodas, Mayor of Quito; Lorena Bravo, Director of the National Traffic Agency, and Diego Zorilla, Resident Coordinator of the UN in Ecuador, all of whom expressed their willingness to set up a joint taskforce on road safety.
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• Finally, Mr. Todt was welcomed in Cartagena by the Vice-President of Colombia, German Vargas Lloras. Mr. Vargas Lloras presented the initiatives undertaken by his government and re-affirmed that improvements in infrastructure and the establishment of a clearly defined and robust national road safety agencies were two of the key areas Latin American countries should be working on. He said both issues had been a priority in Colombia.