The 3rd Global meeting of NGOs advocating for road safety and road traffic victims is taking place this week (Thursday 4th April 2013) in Antalya, Turkey. The alliance represents over 90 countries advocating all areas of road safety and this meeting offers an opportunity to meet and continue the movement for road safety around the world.

About the Alliance
With over 140 member NGOs active in more than 90 countries, the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety was founded in response to demand from NGOs worldwide for a forum where NGOs can share best practices and collectively advocate for road safety and the rights of victims of road traffic injury.

The Alliance also provides concise information about the activities of NGOs to non-NGO actors, such as governments, foundations, inter-governmental agencies, the media, and other stakeholders with an interest in road safety. Additionally, the Alliance organizes the Global Meeting of NGOs Advocating for Road Safety, which takes place every two years.

The Board of Directors of the Alliance is comprised entirely of volunteers. Board members are elected from the Alliance member NGOs. The current Board of Directors is:

• Ms. Moira Donahue (Safe Kids Worldwide), Treasurer
• Mr. Floor Lieshout (YOURS), Vice-President
• Mr. Manuel Ramos (FEVR)
• Ms. Nani Rodriguez (Fundacion Gonzalo Rodriguez)
• Mr. Daouda Sagna (LASER International), Secretary
• Ms. Rochelle Sobel (ASIRT)
• Mr. Jeffrey Witte (Amend), President

3rd Meeting
IPA Turkey Section is hosting the Third Global Meeting of Nongovernmental Organizations Advocating for Road Safety and Road Victims with the cooperation of Antalya Police Department and Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety.

On 4-5 April 2013 the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety is organizing the Third Global Meeting of NGOs Advocating for Road Safety and Road Victims, which will take place in Antalya, Turkey. The Alliance is proud to have the support of World Health Organization, Turkish Police, Global Road Safety Facility, Road Safety Fund and TUV for this important meeting.

Some of the speakers include: Dr Etienne Krug, Director at World Health Organization and Chair of the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration, Mr. Marc Shotten, Senior Transport Specialist at the World Bank and Professor Adnan Hyder, Director international injury research unit at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Also there will be an expert panel discussion on funding in road safety, among the panelists are known champions in the field as Mr David Ward, Secretary General at the FIA Foundation and Mr Raoul Powlowski from GRSP.

The Alliance is hoping, by providing this platform, to encourage partnerships among the NGO members, and accelerate a free exchange of knowledge and experiences. Many NGOs from all over the world will have an opportunity to present their work and hopefully inspire others. In addition, with some interesting break out sessions on Social Media, Victim Support, Evaluation Methods and Legislative Advocacy, we hope to further strengthen the capacity of participating NGOs. The meeting also provides a perfect opportunity to encourage and mobilize the NGO community contribution to the upcoming 2nd United Nation Road Safety Week, with the theme Pedestrian Safety, `Make Walking Safe´.

The meeting will close with a first General Assembly for the Alliance member NGOs, which will give direction to the future steps of the Alliance.

Additionally, on the first day of the meeting “The Long Short Walk” activity will be organized in order to draw attention to pedestrian safety on roads. This activity is recognized globally and organized various cities of the world at different times for the rights of pedestrians. Hereby, we will join this campaign and walk for safer roads for all on 4th April. You can take part in the youth element of the Long Short Walk here.

The world is gearing up for the Second United Nations Global Road Safety Week taking place on 6-12 May 2013. The theme for the week is pedestrian safety and alongside events planned to call for safer pedestrian access globally, the Long Short Walk campaign, running now, is being coordinated around the world. To add to the contribution, YOURS, along with partners have launched the pledge counter.

As we know, every year 1.3 million people are killed on the world’s roads and road crashes are the #1 cause of death for young people.  3000 people are dying every day – and many more injured – for simple, preventable reasons such as not having access to crosswalks or helmets or safe vehicles or timely medical care after a crash.  Road deaths are surpassing the number of deaths from TB and malaria and, within 20 years, more people will die on the roads than will die of HIV/AIDS.  We have many of the answers to prevent this deadly trajectory and save millions of lives, but we must act together and help make road safety an urgent priority around the world, especially during the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020.  

About My Long Short Walk:
The Long Short Walk – a World Walk for Road Safety – is an initiative of the Zenani Campaign, in memory of 13-year old Zenani Mandela, Nelson’s Mandela’s great-granddaughter who was killed in a crash.  The Long Short Walk can raise awareness and lead to greater safety for everyone.  Take a walk and/or ride to promote road safety for all! See our FAQ for more. 

How to Participate:
1) Organize and register a walk or ride to take place ON or BEFORE Global Road Safety Week, May 6-12, 2013.  

Registering your walk shows the world that we are walking for safer roads everywhere. As you will be aware, there are many benefits to walking. Everybody travels to get to their destinations, whether to school, to work, to the shops or even travel just for the sake of walking. Unfortunately, some people’s walks are incredibly unsafe; unsafe footpaths, bad lighting and poor road discipline, The Long Short Walk wants to capture these images to illustrate the importance of a ‘Safe Walking’ and to prioritize this part of a new global Sustainable Development Goal. Implementing pedestrian safety measures is cost effective, and many of the solutions are simple.

2) Take photos and videos to tell us why you are walking or riding.  Use our signboards or make your own “I’m walking/riding for…” in YOURS’ special contest, click the banner below: 

In many parts of the world, governments are pushing for more pedestrians and more cyclists. It not only helps with congestion, the environment and health but reduces the amount of vehicles on the road too. However, pedestrians and cyclists are vulnerable road users and are at a higher risk of being seriously injured in a crash with a vehicle. The Road Safety Authority have published these videos to guide cyclists and motorists on sharing the road. Find out more.

Ireland’s Road Safety Authority (RSA) has produced a short video giving drivers advice on how to share the road safely with cyclists. There are some valuable reminders to motorists in there, such as checking their mirrors for cyclists before getting out of their car and giving bike riders plenty of space while overtaking, although there’s perhaps a missed opportunity to warn of the dangers of driver distraction.

The RSA says: “Cyclists are entitled to road space as much as cars, vans, goods vehicles or indeed any other vehicle on the road. This commercial aims to educate drivers on sharing the roads safely with cyclists, and motorists’ responsibility to cyclists as vulnerable road users.


”Previous RSA videos include one reminding cyclists of their obligations under the Rules of the Road – Ireland’s equivalent of the Highway Code –another looking at cycling equipment, and ones looking at riding on the road and sharing space with motor vehicles. The videos all have the same introduction.

Share the Road calls for more balanced investments in road infrastructure so that an integrated, multi-modal urban transport system can be built instead of a highly costly car-centric system.  In order to shift the decision-making in major investments, Share the Road works with governments and donor agencies (multilateral and bilateral banks and agencies) to develop policy that systematically allocates a portion of project funds to infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists, e.g. a set proportion of funds could be dedicated. 

Such investments are key to establishing sustainable transport systems which are central to a Green Economy and to achieving the goals of the UN Decade of Action on Road Safety (2011-2020), as well as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).  (Read UNEP’s Global Report Share the Road: Investment in Walking and Cycling Road Infrastructure or start with the Executive Summary).

View the videos from the Road Safety Authority Ireland about how to share the road with cyclists on the right column. These videos call for sharing the road in developed countries where laws, infrastructure enforcement is more developed. Of course, these laws pertain to Ireland and show an example of sharing the road practise.

After the launch of the Global Status Report on Road Safety, the World Health Organization are running an exclusive Twitter chat with Dr Tami Toroyan focusing on the key findings of the report and answering questions from people all around the world via tweets. You can take part tomorrow (26th March 2013 – 14.00 – 15.00 GMT).

The Global Status Report on Road Safety is the most comprehensive report covering 182 countries around the world and accounting for almost 99% of the world population. Conducted by the World Health Organization, the report provides the low down on global statistics related to road safety alongside individual country profiles documenting mortality rates, road safety laws and other facets of road safety. The document will be used all across the world as a baseline of research and statistics relating to road safety.

In an increasingly engaging movement, the findings of this report becomes even more accessible via the World Health Organization’s live Twitter chat tomorrow.

A Twitter chat is simple, if you are a regular Tweeter, that is, posting status updates, news, views, opinions and links in 140 characters or less, then you will be well accustomed to take part in tomorrow’s Twitter chat.

Topics to be discussed

• Key findings from the Global status report on road safety 2013
• Global status report on road safety 2013 and Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020
• The way forward: report recommendations

How to participate
Send your questions as tweets to @UNRSC using the hashtag #roadsafetychat.

If you are unable to join the live chat, leave questions on the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 Facebook page or email them to vesicj@who.int.

After the chat, a summary of the discussion will be available on Storify.

YOURS will be taking part in the chat and we encougare our network to do so too!