Historic day for road safety NGOs.
The #RethinkMobility painting represents civil society's call to action to save lives on the road.
GLOBAL ALLIANCE OF NGOs FOR ROAD SAFETY
29 September 2023
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2,650
2.650 DAYS UNTIL THE END OF THE DICATE OF ACTION
H ΕΥΘΥΤΑ-ΠΑΡΑΤΗΡΗΤΗΡΙΟ ΟΔΙΚΗΣ ΑΣΦΑΛΕΙΑΣ ΡΟΔΟΥ, ενεργό μέλος της!
SAFE MOBILITY IS OUR RIGHT
Over
the past month, the Alliance has been actively advocating on behalf of
our members to prioritize safe mobility and road safety on the global
agenda. We recently met with UN Secretary-General António Guterres in New York,
a historic moment for us. In that meeting, we delivered a meaningful
painting by a Salvadoran artist, urging governments and international
authorities to address road safety as an integrated, indivisible, and
interlinked part of the full SDG agenda. We aim to ensure that this
significant moment goes beyond just a handshake and a picture, leading
to meaningful action toward achieving our goals.
Approaching the 2023 UN SDG Summit, we took the initiative to address world leaders through an open letter
expressing our disappointment in the political declaration's lack of
attention to mobility. With this letter, we wanted to assist NGOs in
communicating the critical connections between road safety and climate
change, equity, and sustainability to decision-makers. Additionally, we
wanted to highlight the significance of rethinking mobility to achieve a
range of SDGs, not just SDGs 3.6 and 11.2.
Our
members represent the voices of our communities. As civil society, we
have a role defined in the Global Plan. We are committed to facilitating
inclusion, empowering communities, and holding decision-makers
accountable for their commitments and responsibilities to uphold the
right to safe mobility. Even though it feels like we are rowing against
the tide at times, we still see great evidence of hard work toward our
shared goal to rethink mobility.
For
example, the General Law of Mobility and Road Safety of Mexico was a
victory for the coalition of civil society that advocated effectively
for the approval of this vital law. Likewise, in Wales, UK, long-term
community advocacy, empowered by 20's Plenty for Us, has been a
significant force in the push leading to nationwide implementation of 20
mph (30 km/h) limits, making streets safer for people who walk and
cycle.
However, we cannot stop at the Summit's momentum. It's time to shift gears. We
need to design roads that prioritize people and their needs. This means
creating better space for walking, biking, and public transportation.
It also means making our streets safer and more livable for everyone,
regardless of how they choose to get around.
Together,
as a global community, we can make this happen. We can ensure that
everyone has the right to safe and sustainable mobility. We can create a
world where people, not vehicles, are at the center of transport and
meet the goal of reducing road traffic deaths and injuries by 50% by
2030.
Safe mobility is our right. Let's make it happen.
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NGOs #RETHINKMOBILITY PAINTING PRESENTED TO UN SECRETARY-GENERAL
“The words in this painting are the
dreams and aspirations of NGOs for their communities,” said Lotte
Brondum, the Alliance’s Executive Director, handing over a painting
entitled #RethinkMobility to the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres,
on behalf of the Alliance member NGOs.
The painting, by Salvadoran artist Gerardo Gómez, was commissioned for
the Eighth Global Meeting of Nongovernmental Organizations Advocating
for Road Safety and Road Victims in March 2023. It incorporated Alliance
members’ words about safe mobility and represents our call to action.
It envisions a world with safe and accessible mobility for all,
featuring vital road safety measures like lower speed limits and
pedestrian facilities.
The meeting was held in partnership with El Salvador's UN Mission and
MOVES, calling for global attention to safe mobility and road safety.
The presentation coincided with UN Member States' preparations for the
SDG Summit, highlighting the importance of road safety in achieving
specific SDGs. Read more HERE.
Jean Todt, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Road Safety, who
received a copy of the painting during a roundtable in El Salvador
ahead of the meeting, said, “The #RethinkMobility painting shows a
glimpse of how our streets could look if we invested in road safety and
sustainability. I am happy to see this artwork and the efforts of NGOs
being raised with the highest levels at the UN.”
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OPEN LETTER CALLS FOR SDG ACTION
Safe mobility is pivotal for the achievement of the SDG agenda, yet it
is overlooked in the political declaration adopted at the 2023 UN SDG
Summit last week. In the lead up to the Summit, the Alliance published
an open letter highlighting this omission and urging leaders to reduce
road traffic deaths and injuries by 50% by 2030 through evidence-based
actions, including those in the Alliance Accountability Toolkit.
The letter was amplified by NGOs who shared it with their governments
and media, using it as a tool to raise the profile of road safety as an
SDG issue. Read and share the letter HERE.
The 2023 SDG Summit was held on 18–19 September 2023 in New York.
It marked the beginning of a new phase of accelerated progress
toward the SDGs with high-level political guidance on transformative and
accelerated actions leading up to 2030. Read more HERE.
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EL SALVADOR ROUNDTABLE SETS THE STAGE
As part of the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Road Safety Jean
Todt's mission to El Salvador, Alliance member MOVES convened a
roundtable between the Special Envoy and Salvadoran government
officials, including the Vice Minister of Transportation of El
Salvador, to facilitate discussion about evidence-based road safety
measures to achieve safe and sustainable mobility.
This roundtable occurred in the weeks ahead of the meeting with the UN
Secretary-General, António Guterres. The painting was featured in the
roundtable and a copy given to the Special Envoy, serving as a reminder
of the role that civil society has played in bringing and keeping road
safety on the agenda.
Vanessa Rubio, president of MOVES said, “This roundtable builds on
momentum of forums that have been taking place to improve road safety
over the past year, including the Eighth Global Meeting of
Nongovernmental Organizations Advocating for Road Safety and Road
Victims, held here in El Salvador. We aim to show how safe and
sustainable mobility is critical to achieving other SDGs.” Read more HERE.
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LEARN GUIDE EMPOWERS ROAD SAFETY DATA COALITIONS
This month, together with the International Road Federation, and the
support of the TotalEnergies Foundation program, we launched the LEARN Program: a guide for implementing.
The guide enables NGOs and other road safety stakeholders to set up
their own LEARN (Learn, Examine, Act, Replicate, Network) coalitions to
undertake data road safety projects, benefiting from the tools and
learning experiences of the existing LEARN programs in six African
countries (Cameroon, Kenya, Senegal, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia).
The need for capacity building to collect and use data to support achievement of the 2030 targets is mentioned in the political declaration adopted at the SDG Summit and Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021–2030.
Read more and access the guide HERE.
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ALLIANCE WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS
The Alliance is delighted to welcome four new members that joined recently:
Full members
- Legacy Road Safety Initiative (LRSI), Uganda
Associate members
- Road Safety Awareness Initiative, Kenya
- The Global Health Advocacy Incubator, USA
- VisionSpring Foundation, India
Read more about our new members HERE and read more about joining the Alliance HERE.
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UPCOMING EVENTS & DEADLINES
Walk21 Action for Walking – The Affordable and Essential Steps to Improve Walkability: 16–19 October 2023, Kigali, Rwanda. The Alliance will be holding a workshop and training. Read more HERE.
Tracking the Decade of Action: Anniversary of the Global Plan: 26 October 2023 14:00 CET online. Register HERE.
World Day of Remembrance: 19 November 2023. Find out more HERE.
Fourth Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety: 18–19 February 2025, Marrakesh, Morocco. Find out more HERE.
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