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.
• In Cuba, Mr. Todt discussed cooperation on road safety with representatives from the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of External Relations. He was also presented with the Child Declaration of the “Save Kids Lives” campaign by a local performing arts school. • 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.
• Peru was the next stop and over a full day of meetings, the Special Envoy held talks with the Peruvian government on road safety. José Gallardo Ku, Minister of Transportation, affirmed his intention to make progress on the matter during a lunch hosted at the French Embassy in Lima. • 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.