MARRAKECH, MOROCCO – March 16, 2015 – On March 13 and 14 more than 170 delegates from over 52 countries representing 100 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) gathered in Marrakech, Morocco at the Zalagh Kashbar Hotel & Spa in Marrakech, Morocco for the 4th Global Meeting of Nongovernmental Organizations Advocating for Road Safety and Road Victims.
The Global Meeting is organized by the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety and takes place every two years, with previous editions being held in Brussels, Belgium; Washington, DC, USA; and Antalya, Turkey. This year’s meeting was hosted by the Moroccan National Committee for Prevention of Road Accidents and was sponsored by FedEx, the Road Safety Fund, the World Bank’s Global Road Safety Facility, and Allianz.
Dignitaries from the Moroccan Government including Mr Aziz Rabbah, Minister of Transport, Equipment and Logistics, Morocco, Dr Mohamed Najib Boulif Minister Delegate to the Minister of Logistics, Equipment and logistics in charge of transport, Morocco, Dr. Ahmed Boudak, Director of Hospitals and Outpatient Care, Ministry of Health, Morocco welcomed delegates including Dr. Etienne Krug, Director of the Department for Management of Noncommunicable Diseases, Disability and Injury Prevention at the World Health Organization, Mr. Marc Shotten, Senior Transport Specialist at Global Road Safety Facility, World bank, Mr. Shane O’Connor, Communications Advisor, FedEx, and Dr. Kate Allen, Health Systems Manager, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Nearly 3,500 people die on the world’s roads every day–over 1.2 million people per year–and tens of millions are injured or disabled. Each year, developing countries lose between 1 and 3% of their gross domestic product due to medical costs, productivity losses, and other expenses resulting from deaths and injuries on the road. The economic burden of motor vehicle crashes costs at least $500 billion worldwide, which is more than all the funds that developing countries receive in aid.
NGOs play a vital role in the growing worldwide movement to reduce the impact of road traffic injuries on society via advocacy activities and the implementation of evidence-based programs to reduce crashes and assist the injured. The purpose of the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety and the Global Meetings is to help coordinate the activities of NGOs and assist in the dissemination of best practices for programmes, fundraising, communications, and more.
Main highlights and outcomes from the Global Meeting in Marrakech:
NGOs also had ample time for networking and presented their work at poster displays.
Find Meeting Report HERE
Quotes:
“The Global Alliance and its member NGOs are at the forefront of the global effort to save lives on the roads: leading projects and campaigns; working with communities and government; advocating for road safety policies and legislation, said Avi Silverman Director, Road Safety Fund.
As we approach UN Global Road Safety Week in May, NGOs worldwide will issue a strong and united call to protect children on the world’s roads in the #SaveKidsLives campaign. Policy makers must listen and act urgently. We must tackle this leading global killer of children and young people. The work of our colleagues in road safety NGOs around the world is an inspiration to all. We must follow their lead, join the #SaveKidsLives campaign and take action.”
“The World Bank and the Global Road Safety Facility are very pleased to support the 4th Global Meeting of Nongovernmental Organizations Advocating for Road Safety and Road Victims”, said Marc Shotten, Senior Road Safety Specialist, Global Road Safety Facility, World Bank. “As we stand midway through the Decade of Action for Road Safety, we must collectively rally our forces to help countries achieve the ambitious goal of reducing deaths and injuries from road traffic crashes and saving 5 million lives.”
“Safety is a core value at FedEx,” said Shane O’Connor, communications advisor, FedEx Global Citizenship. “We were proud to sponsor the Global Meeting as it provided a significant opportunity for Alliance members to be exposed to best practices in road safety and to learn from one another. FedEx has supported the child pedestrian road safety programs of Alliance member Safe Kids Worldwide for the past 15 years, engaging more than 16,000 FedEx volunteers to help reach more than 10 million children in 10 countries with lifesaving road safety education.
”We were delighted to discuss the use of scientific methods and collection of relevant data to support evidence based approaches implemented by hard working NGOs in road safety all over the world”, said Adnan Hyder, Professor & Associate Chair, Dept. of International Health, Director, Health Systems Program, Director, Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit
Jeffrey Witte, President of the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety said, “on behalf of member NGOs of the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety, I would like to express our sincere thanks to the Government of Morocco for hosting our Global Meeting in beautiful Marrakech. Further, we are deeply grateful for the support we receive from our partners in academia, the private sector, philanthropy, and from international institutions. When civil society works in partnership with other institutions, great things can happen; indeed, this is the road we must follow as we head toward our shared aim of making the world’s roads safer for all road users.”
Find background information here in English, Portuguese and Spanish.
Agenda: English, French, Portuguese and Spanish
The Global Meeting was sponsored by:
