GreenLight Initiative has disclosed that Nigerian roads are estimated to account for 21.4 deaths per 100,000 population.
This is even as they joined organisations around the world to participate in the Eighth Global Meeting of Nongovernmental Organizations Advocating for Road Safety and Road Victims (Global Meeting) taking place in San Salvador, El Salvador from March 6-10, 2023.
The theme for the Global Meeting is ‘Rethinking Road Safety: Mobility for People and Planet’. The eight global meetings bring together 214 participants from 61 countries.
According to a statement by Founder and Executive Director for GreenLight Initiative, Simon Patrick Obi, as part of the activities for the eight global meetings for road safety, the Africa Regional Chapter of the Global Alliance held its chapter meeting.
During the chapter meeting, GreenLight Initiative alongside with other road safety nongovernmental organizations in Africa adopted the Africa Call for Action.
He said the call for action calls on all Governments in Africa to prioritise road safety, demonstrate strategic leadership and ascertain commitment by planning, funding, and full implementation of road safety interventions through political ownership, positioning road safety as a national priority, recognizing that it is an integral part of the wider 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and publicly articulating a long-term measurable vision. Components of the call for actions includes, evidence-based actions that put people, especially pedestrians and vulnerable road users; investment in road safety; and civil society involvement in decision-making processes.
He said: “the Africa call for action is in line with the United Nations Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030. It calls for the reduction of road deaths and injury by 50% by 2030.
“It is important to note that Nigeria roads are estimated to account for 21.4 deaths per 100000 population according to the global status report by the World Health Organization (WHO).
“It is for this reasons that GreenLight Initiative calls for the implementation of the call for actions in Nigeria as adopted by the Africa Regional Chapter of the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety. The implementation of this call to action will reduce deaths and serious injury on our roads as well as stimulate the achievement of the UN Global Sustainable Goals especially SDG 3.6, 11.2 and 13.
“Registered as GreenLight Development Centre, GreenLight Initiative is a non-profit organization that promotes road safety, safe and sustainable mobility in Africa.”
