Cairo — Africa has the highest road traffic fatality rates in the world. 650 people are estimated to be killed by road accidents every day, yet the continent is the least motorized region - with only 2.3 pe

r cent of the world's vehicles. Half of these accidents involve vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.

The UN estimates that unless immediate and effective action is taken, road traffic injuries are predicted to become the fifth leading cause of death in the world, resulting in an estimated 2.4 million deaths each year".

African Ministers and senior officials meeting in Cairo, praised the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Union Commission (AUC) for being instrumental in developing the Africa Road Safety Action Plan and the African Road Safety Charter. The officials were meeting ahead of PIDA week 2019 - Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) - as part of AU Specialized Technical Committee on Transport, Transcontinental and Interregional Infrastructure, Energy and Tourism, chaired by Dr Mohamed Shaker El-Markabi, Minister of electricity and renewable energy.

Robert Lisinge, Chief of ECA's Energy, Infrastructure and Services Section urged African governments to urgently tackle the risk of road traffic deaths, including the use of new technologies for improving infrastructure and traffic management. He noted that it was pleasing to see ministers adopting the post-2020 strategy for Road Safety. He

Lisinge explained that ECA has organized several high-level road safety events, bringing together various stakeholders to brainstorm on road safety challenges and opportunities. He argued that the post-2020 strategy for Road Safety will ensure the continuation of the continental Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020.

Cheikh Bedda, Director of Infrastructure and Energy of the African Union Commission says that the AUC will convene a meeting of all African Road Safety Ministers to discuss the common position of the continent and action plan for the upcoming decade that will halt road traffic injuries and deaths. That plan will be submitted during the global meeting of the Ministers of the Road Safety in February 2020 in Stockholm, Sweden.

Since established in 1958, ECA has played an important role in the development of transport in Africa, including in the efforts to improve the safety of Africa's roads.