Addis Ababa — Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa are the "top three performers among 23 countries" in accomplishing the activities of the African Road Safety Action Plan according to a report from the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).
The report, released during the Third African Road Safety Conference occurring in Addis Ababa, is a Mid-term Review to understand the extent to which African countries have implemented the plan since its adoption in 2011. The review provides baseline information and touches on best practices and challenges.
Though progress is being made, performance of the Plan based on five pillars (road safety management; mobility; vehicles; road users; and post-crash response) has been varying with some countries performing well in some pillars but failing in others.
Around 40% of countries are in the process of implementing more road safety management activities and yet more than 30% have not taken significant action to harmonise data formats and use international standards in reporting.
Due to these differences in performance and ability, Mr. Stephen Karingi, Director of Regional Trade and Integration at ECA encouraged conference participants to "be pragmatic in proposing a road map for action."
"ECA continues to support efforts to improve road safety in Africa," said Mr. Karingi. Indeed, a lot of support is needed as many countries have neither data collection and analysis nor adequate laws to address road safety.
The report encourages countries to invest in research and develop road safety audits. Countries must introduce incentives for importation of newer and safer vehicles and improve traffic education at schools, stated the report.
The UN declared 2011-2020 as the Decade of Action for Road Safety with an aim of reducing road fatalities. The African Road Safety Action Plan focuses on very specific road safety issues such as understanding of road safety institutional arrangements, road safety management and related activities, achievements, opportunities, and challenges in African countries.
The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is organising the conference in collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Transport Policy Programme (SSATP), the Global Road Safety Facility of the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the International Road Federation (IRF).
