Ministers reaffirm their commitment to Road Safety by signing the Delhi Declaration

Organised by the International Road Federation (IRF Geneva) a day before the official opening of the 18th IRF World Meeting, a Transport Ministers Forum was held in Delhi, India on 13th November 2017. Highlighting how the rise in road accidents is increasing the burden on healthcare in low and middle-income countries including India, Union health minister J P Nadda said about 48% of hospital beds in surgical wards are occupied by road traffic injury patients in these countries. Nadda said road traffic de
March 28, 2018 Read time: 3 mins
Ministers from numerous countries attended the World Road Meeting
Organised by the International Road Federation (IRF Geneva) a day before the official opening of the 18th IRF World Meeting, a Transport Ministers Forum was held in Delhi, India on 13th November 2017.


Highlighting how the rise in road accidents is increasing the burden on healthcare in low and middle-income countries including India, Union health minister J P Nadda said about 48% of hospital beds in surgical wards are occupied by road traffic injury patients in these countries.

Nadda said road traffic deaths and injuries are forecast to rise by about 65% by 2020. In low and middle-income countries, these fatalities are expected to increase by 80% and the majority of these victims are vulnerable road users (VRUs) - pedestrians, cyclists and two-wheeler riders. Nadda further said that the political commitment and a will to achieve can bring about significant and rapid decline in road injuries and requires planning at all levels, capacity creation, involvement of all sectors and good data.

Transport Ministers from eight countries, along with Shri Yudhvir Singh Malik, Secretary (RT&H), Ministry of Road Transport & Highways; Jean Todt, UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety; Kiran K Kapila, chairman, 1201 IRF Geneva; heads of key international organisations and donor agencies, NGOs, and private sector representatives were also present at the occasion.

The UN Special Envoy welcomed the reforms put forward by the Government of India to the Motor Vehicles Act and highlighted that, if adopted and implemented, these could save thousands of lives.

The Ministerial meeting culminated in the signing of the Delhi Declaration. Ministers and high representatives strongly reaffirm in the document their commitment to road safety. The Declaration stresses key road safety measures, including the importance of UN legal instruments, capacity building, Minimum Vehicle Safety Standards (including Electronic Stability Control Systems) and the need to mobilise funding.

Speaking to the press, IRF chairman Kapila said, “Each country has to tailor the right solutions for its peculiar problems. Effective evidence-based measures do exist. We are all here to share our respective expertise and to support each other. Road safety is a personal matter as it concerns each and every individual”.

The full text of the declaration can be accessed on IRF Geneva website: %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external www.irfnet.ch false http://www.irfnet.ch/ false false%>

A full report from the 18th IRF World Meeting will feature in the next issue of the IRF’s pages on World Highways.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Roads to Recovery after the pandemic
    January 11, 2021
    IRF president Bill Halkias shares the Federation’s view on post-Covid
    Read More
  • PPRS: come together for International Road Maintenance Day
    March 27, 2018
    The world’s leading highway associations have launched International Road Maintenance Day to focus people everywhere on the protection of their local road networks. International Road Maintenance Day will take place on the first Thursday of every April, speakers said on day two of the Pavement Preservation and Recycling Summit (PPRS Nice 2018). The first event will take place on April 5, 2018. “It will be one day per year to talk about the maintenance of our roads,” said Juan Jose Potti, the president of
    Read More
  • Asphaltica exhibition and conference will provide asphalt road knowledge
    October 31, 2012
    The global economy is still suffering, and many believe investment in road and other infrastructure is the key to its revival Over the past 14 years in Italy, only 187km of new highways have been made, but, at the same time, the amount of vehicles using the country’s roads has grown by nearly 10 million. It is in this context of financial concern and growing burden on existing road infrastructure that the sixth edition of ASPHALTICA, the only European event exclusively dedicated to the world of asphalt, bit
    Read More
  • IRF organises 27th Road Safety Week in India
    March 8, 2016
    As part of the 27th road safety week, IRF organised a two-day seminar in New Delhi (January 14th -15th) to raise political awareness about, and support for, initiatives to improve road safety The seminar with the theme “Road Safety – Time for Action” was chaired by Sanjay Mitra, Secretary Road Transport and Highways (RTH), of the Government of India. K K Kapila, chairman IRF – GPC, highlighted recent IRF initiatives (black spot removal, training of drivers to provide first aid to accident victims at acci
    Read More

Highlighted Content