Aligning Africa’s Road Safety Legislators and Africa’s Road Safety NGOs

The Africa Chapter is organizing a dialogue between the Chapter’s NGOs and parliamentarians. The primary objective of this dialogue is to further the discussion on the road safety agenda. It aims to build upon the achievements made so far and explore strategies to enhance the collaboration between road safety NGOs and legislators in Africa. The goal is to accelerate progress and achieve better road safety outcomes in the region.

We invite you to attend this dialogue session on Thursday 28 September 2023 at 14:00-15:30 EAT. 

Session objectives

• To share updates from the Africa Chapter of road safety NGOs
• To share updates from Africa Network of Road Safety Legislators
• To recognize and celebrate success stories on AU Africa Road Safety Charter ratification
• To harness strategies that can enhance meaningful engagement of NGOs and legislators

The dialogue will be held online in English and French. More information about the guest speakers and high-level panelists coming soon.

On 27 November 2020, the Africa Chapter of the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road and the Africa Network of Road Safety Legislators met for the first time to initiate a dialogue that was aimed at aligning Africa’s road safety legislators and Africa road safety NGOs. The dialogue session was a valuable opportunity for Alliance NGOs in Africa to build relationships with legislators who share our vision to achieve the UN Resolution on Improving Global Road Safety and the 2030 goal to reduce road deaths and injuries by 50%.

The dialogue brought forth several challenges faced by government/NGO relations, as well as possible solutions to improve the relations. The dialogue concluded with five recommendations that, if implemented, could contribute to strengthening the relationships between NGOs and legislators in decision making processes and contribute to improving road safety outcomes in Africa.

• NGOs to promote and advocate for the ratification of the AU Road Safety Charter.
• Creating networks in-country and regionally to ensure sustainability and continuity to keep road safety on the agenda despite changing MPs and governments.
• Gathering case studies from around the continent to model what good engagement with parliamentarians and NGOs looks like.
• Bridging the knowledge gap to push the joint agenda effectively: NGOs to understand the legislative processes and legislators understand better the grassroots issues on road safety.
• Improving the framework for continued engagement of road safety NGOs and road safety legislators in Africa.