Douala — Through the voice of a representative, Mr Zacharie Ngoumbe - Inspector General in the Ministry of Transport, Cameroon's Minister of Transport Mr Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo'o has congratulated the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) for encouraging Central African countries to implement the African Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety.
This was during a meeting organised this week in Douala, Cameroon, during which experts from the sub-region examined the state of execution of the plan. Still via his representative, the Cameroonian Minister called for the consolidation of the reflection framework in order to significantly reduce the number of road accidents in the sub-region.
In a statement on the occasion, Mr. Emile Ahohe, Director of the Sub-Regional Office for Central Africa of the ECA said "road accidents constitute a real public health problem that takes a huge economic and social toll on individuals, families and communities, and puts a heavy strain on the often insufficient resources of national health systems."
Experts from Ministries in charge of land transport in ECCAS member countries as well as representatives of ECCAS, CEMAC and civil society stakeholders working in the area of civil safety, sought to identify the difficulties impeding implementation of the Plan and to propose concrete steps to speed up the said implementation.
A study conducted by ECA on the situation of road safety in Africa and the state execution of the African Road Safety Plan shows that in spite of the progress achieved, Central Africa has enormous challenges in implementing it. For instance, concerning the first pillar that focuses on road safety management, seven of the eight countries surveyed have adopted a safety strategy paper, while only four countries have nested road safety as a key component of their development plan and poverty control programme. With regard to the second pillar of the plan that focuses on the safety of roads and mobility, the report notes that no ECCAS country has successfully allocated 10 per cent of road infrastructure investment resources to road safety, as recommended. With regards to pillar five that focuses on States' capacity for rapid response to accidents, the report says only two of the eight countries have created emergency relief coordination centres that are strategically located.
In light of the foregoing, participants in the Douala meeting committed to lobby and sensitise policymakers and lawmakers to take ownership of all components of the African Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety.
Published by:
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
Sub-Regional Office for Central Africa
P.O. Box 14935 Yaoundé, Cameroon
Tel: +237 2 22231461
E-mail: sroca@uneca.org
Media contact person:
Abel Akara Ticha, Communication Officer
Tel: +237 2 22231461
