Skip to main content

The IRF Road Safety Challenge aims to cut the rate of deaths and injuries for Africa

With the IRF Road Safety Challenge launched in Addis Ababa in early March, IRF reiterates its strong commitment towards making the recommendations for the Decade of Action a reality worldwide In its commitment to act as a catalyst in raising awareness and in promoting immediate practical actions, IRF has brought together Ministers from all over Africa under the auspices of the African Union, the World Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). An IRF Africa Chapter under the requ
May 15, 2015 Read time: 4 mins
With the IRF Road Safety Challenge launched in Addis Ababa in early March, IRF reiterates its strong commitment towards making the recommendations for the Decade of Action a reality worldwide

In its commitment to act as a catalyst in raising awareness and in promoting immediate practical actions, IRF has brought together Ministers from all over Africa under the auspices of the African Union, the 2332 World Bank and the 3683 United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). An IRF Africa Chapter under the request and support from the Ministers present, commits to coordinate and boost the efforts in the region.

Organised in Addis Ababa on 11-12 March 2015 under the patronage of the Ministry of Transport of Ethiopia, the international conference “IRF Road Safety Challenge for Africa: Accomplishing Targets of Road Safety in Accordance with Decade of Action Plan,” was a première event for the entire region. More than ten Ministerial delegations from all over Africa were present, together with high level representatives from all the major organisations operating in the region and road safety experts from Africa, US, Europe, India and Australia.

“Given that 3.400 people die on roads every day, it is clear that road safety is a matter of grave concern that needs to be urgently addressed. IRF has made road safety a key pillar of its activities” says Mr Kapila, IRF Chairman. “During the 3439 Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020), we have set for ourselves a target of saving 5 million lives on the world’s roads. To achieve this target, we have to act collectively, prioritising road safety in the agenda and encouraging concrete, measurable implementation of commitments made under the Decade of Action Plan for Road Safety.”

With this initiative, IRF wishes to keep road safety high in the agenda, encourage concrete and measurable actions, and launch a debate on the issues of data collection related to road safety. “Monitoring and evaluation are crucial in this battle. Good quality data are the foundation of any targeted Road Safety approach” continues Mr Kapila.

Recognising the merit of the initiative and the tremendous contribution IRF can bring into the region, the Transport Minister of Zambia has proposed the creation of an IRF Africa Chapter. The proposal has been warmly and unanimously supported by all the delegations present. Accordingly, the IRF Africa Chapter has been founded on this historic day to coordinate and boost road safety efforts in the region.

It was felt that the leaderships of African Nations should adopt road safety as a “Governance issue” and all members present should convey it to their respective leaderships. Their commitment will ensure success of the Decade of Action Plan in Africa.

Addressing the conference, Mr Ban-Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations said “IRF Conference demonstrates the strong commitment of the international community to assist African countries”.

The proceedings and the conference recommendations are available on 1201 IRF Geneva website.



Professional Training: New Courses on Road Safety, Rural Roads and HDM4

For more than forty years the 1128 University of Birmingham has been offering teaching and research programmes in the area of road management and engineering designed to equip participants with the skills and knowledge of management procedures for the planning, appraisal, design, construction and maintenance of road networks.

In addition, for the last fifteen years the Senior Road Executive Programme has provided continuing professional development for senior professionals working in the road sector and, by so doing, has contributed to the dissemination of knowledge and expertise and facilitated the implementation of modern approaches to the management and financing of road networks worldwide.

The University of Birmingham is now pleased to offer three hands-on courses: iRAP and Road Safety (21-25 September 2015), HDM4 and Road Management (7-11 September 2015) and Rural Roads for Development (14-18 September 2015). All three courses are 5-day, intensive and practical residential programmes delivered by experts of international repute. They are aimed at road sector professionals, road engineers, field engineers, planners and road safety professionals who want to be exposed to cutting-edge established methodologies in road safety management, road economics and rural transport for development. The programmes are relevant to conditions found in both developed and developing countries and are suitable for professionals who want to pursue a career in the road sector.

For registrations and more info please visit IRF Geneva website

























Related Content

  • Promoting advances in sustainable roads worldwide
    April 12, 2012
    Professor Martin Snaith, O.B.E., introduces an annual gathering that has grown over the years to become perhaps the world's foremost professional development forum promoting advances in sustainable roads worldwide. Over more than 15 years the Senior Road Executives Programme (SRE), organised by the internationally renowned Highways Group of the University of Birmingham, UK, in association with IRF, has established a worldwide reputation for providing top-quality professional development for executives worki
  • Safer Roads by Design comes to Costa Rica
    November 14, 2012
    IRF’s itinerant cycle of training seminars aimed at helping countries eliminate needless deaths and meet their commitments to the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety made a notable stop in San Jose, Costa Rica on September 12-14. Safer Roads by Design - Costa Rica was hosted by the National Laboratory of Materials and Structural Models of the University of Costa Rica (Lanamme UCR), the country’s leading knowledge centre on road engineering, with additional support from the Inter-American Development Bank an
  • Fast Tracking Road Safety Initiatives in Africa: an Inescapable Necessity
    May 30, 2017
    The International Road Federation (IRF) Geneva, together with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Union (AU), and the Tanzanian Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication organised a regional seminar called “Fast Tracking Road Safety Initiatives in Africa: An Inescapable Necessity. ” The two-day Regional Road Safety Seminar was held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on 13 – 14 March 2017. The seminar focussed on ways to accelerate the implementation of actions to address t
  • SaferAfrica Project discusses Data Collection in Africa at workshop event
    July 9, 2018
    Members of the consortium of the EU-funded SaferAfrica project met in Athens on 24-27 April 2018 to discuss advancements and to present first results to the management board. IRF (Geneva) is a member of the consortium and shared its experience on data collection during the dedicated workshop held jointly with the management board. Representatives from the African Development Bank, UNECA, SSATP/World Bank, FIA, WHO, IRTAD, RU and PIARC were also present to address the issue of data in Africa and the specific