THE COMMISSION FOR GLOBAL ROAD SAFETY 2006 – 2015
A DECADE OF ADVOCACY AND ACHIEVEMENT
INTRODUCTION
The Commission for Global Road Safety was established in 2006 on the initiative of the FIA Foundation under the Chairmanship of Lord Robertson and the Patronage of HRH Prince Michael of Kent. In 2004 the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Bank published the World Report on Road Injury Prevention warning that the rising trend in road crashes had become a major public health crisis. Unfortunately, however, road safety had been left out of the United Nation’s (UN) Millennium Development Goals even though road crashes result in higher levels of fatalities than malaria or tuberculosis. In response the Commission’s aim was to raise the political response to the road injury epidemic, by defining an agenda of effective policy action, and ensuring that road safety be fully recognized by the UN as a global issue of sustainable development.
Over the next ten years the Commission has played a leading role in global road safety advocacy and policy making. With the support of the Make Roads Safe campaign, the Commission In a series of influential reports* has successfully called for:
The first ever global Ministerial Conference on Road safety
A UN Decade of Action for Road Safety
An Action Plan for Road Injury Prevention based on the Safe System Approach
The appointment by the UN Secretary General of a Special Envoy for Road Safety
The inclusion of road safety in the UN’s post 2015 framework of Sustainable Development Goals
Together with its key road safety partners including the FIA Foundation, the WHO, the World Bank, and the UN Road Safety Collaboration, the Commission’s advocacy effort has ensured that the road injury epidemic has been fully recognized by the UN, and also that action has been taken to try to stabilize and then reduce the number of deaths occurring on the world’s roads. In 2011 these efforts were recognized by the US Centre for Disease Control as one of the top ten global public health achievements since 2000. In 2015 the WHO’s Global Road Safety Status Report shows that level of road deaths is stabilizing but that far more needs to be done to achieve the substantial reductions called for by 2020.
In 2012 formal responsibility for hosting the Commission was transferred from the FIA Foundation to the Make Roads Safe charity (renamed in 2015 as the Towards Zero Foundation). With grant and secretariat support from the FIA Foundation, Make Roads Safe and the Commission continued to strongly advocate for the inclusion of road safety in the SDGs. By 2015 this was achieved together with an ambitious new UN target to halve road deaths and injuries by 2020. These are the strongest road safety commitments ever made by UN member States and were endorsed by in a resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly in April 2016.
In 2015 with all its major aims achieved the Trustees of the Towards Zero Foundation agreed that the mission of the Commission was accomplished and so its activities were concluded on the occasion of the 2nd Global High Level Conference on Road Safety held in Brasilia. To mark the close of its work, HRH Prince Michael of Kent presented one of his prestigious International Road Safety Awards to the Commission which was accepted by Lord Robertson.
A TIMELINE OF THE COMMISSION FOR GLOBAL ROAD SAFETY
2006
In February the Commission for Global Road Safety is established on the initiative of the FIA Foundation, under the Chairmanship of Lord Robertson, and the Patronage of HRH Prince Michael of Kent.
In June the Commission publishes its first report ‘Make Roads Safe – A New Priority for Sustainable Development’ which calls for a first ever global ministerial conference on road safety, closer co-operation and more investment in road infrastructure safety by the multilateral development banks, and a ten year $300 million action plan.
In October the Commission Chairman, Lord Robertson, FIA President Max Mosley, and Commission Executive Secretary, David Ward meets with Russian Deputy Premier Alexander Zhukov and Chief of the Road Traffic Inspectorate Viktor Kyrianov to discuss the possibility of Russia hosting a ministerial conference on road safety.
2007
In April, during the first ever UN Global Road Safety Week, the Commission’s associated Make Roads Safe campaign launches a petition for a UN Ministerial Conference, with support from public figures including the UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, former US President Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Multiple F1 World Champion Michael Schumacher, and the film actress Michelle Yeoh who also becomes the Make Road Safe campaign’s global ambassador.
2008
In March the Commission Chairman Lord Robertson speaks in a UN General Assembly debate ahead of the adoption of a resolution which endorses the Russian Federation proposal to host a first ever global ministerial conference on road safety. The Make Roads Safe campaign petition signed by over a million signatures is presented to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon by Lord Robertson, Karla Gonzales, Michelle Yeoh, and David Ward.
In September the Commission for Global Road Safety meets in St Petersburg at the invitation of the Russian Government, and proposes a decade of action for road safety with a goal to reduce road fatalities by 50% from their projected 2020 level.
2009
In May the Commission publishes its second report ‘Make Roads Safe: A Decade of Action for Road Safety’ in Rome. The report calls on the UN to launch a decade of action with the aim to achieve a 50% reduction in the forecast number of road deaths by 2020, and recommends the adoption a five pillar ‘safe system’ action plan to: (1) build management capacity, (2) influence road design and network management, (3) influence vehicle safety design, (4) influence road user behaviour and (5) improve post-crash care. The Commission also proposes that the UN Secretary General appoint a UN Special Envoy for Road Safety to encourage progress and raise awareness during the Decade of Action.
In November the first Ministerial Conference on Road Safety: Time for Action is held in Moscow and opened by President Medvedev of Russia. The Conference, brings together more than 80 ministers and 1600 delegates from over 120 countries and endorses the proposal for a Decade of Action.
2010
In March the Commission Chairman Lord Robertson speaks in a UN General Assembly debate ahead of the adoption of a resolution which approves UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, with the goal to ‘stabilise and reduce’ road deaths by 2020.
The UN Road Safety Collaboration subsequently adopts the Global Plan for the Decade of Action which includes a five pillar ‘safe system’ framework of recommended activities to support the development of Member States national road safety plans.
2011
In April the Commission launches third report Make Roads Safe – Time for Action is launched in London together with Lord Robertson and Zoleka Mandela. The report calls for “a step change in ownership, delivery and accountability mechanisms for road safety at global, regional and national levels”. The Commission also proposes that the automotive industry should establish a voluntary ‘opt-out’ funding initiative in which their customers contribute US$2 or equivalent per new vehicle sold to support road safety programmes in developing nations.
In May the UN Decade of Action is launched in a series of worldwide events led by UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon in New York, HRH Prince Michael of Kent in Nairobi, Kenya, and UK Prime Minister David Cameron in London.
2012
In May at a Donor and Policy Forum held in New York, Make Roads Safe with the FIA Foundation launch a campaign report by Dr Kevin Watkins calling for road safety to be included in the UN’s post 2015 framework of Millennium Development Goals.
Later in May road safety is recognized in the official communique of the RIO plus 20 United Nation’s Conference on Sustainable Development.
2013
In May the Commission launches its fourth and final report, ‘Safe Roads for All – A Post-2015 Agenda for Health and Development’ at a policy forum in St Petersburg, Russia, and calls for road safety to be included in the UN’s Post 2015 framework of Sustainable Development Goals. The report also focuses on the need for safe and credible speed limits and recommends that the multilateral development banks should ensure that intended speeds on new or upgraded roads are compatible with minimum safety ratings.
2014
In April, the Commission Chairman Lord Robertson speaks in the UN General Assembly ahead of the adoption of a new resolution that accepts Brazil’s offer to host the 2nd Global High Level Conference on Road Safety and encourages Member States “to take road safety into due consideration in the elaboration of the post-2015 development agenda”.
2015
In April, the UN Secretary General acts on Commission recommendation to appoint a Special Envoy for Road Safety nominating FIA President Jean Todt.
In September a UN Summit adopts the Global Goals for Sustainable Development. The new framework of SDGs includes road safety in the goals for health and cities and includes a target to halve road deaths and injuries by 2020.
In November the 2nd Global High Level Conference on Road Safety is hosted by the Brazilian Government in Brasilia. Opened by President Dilma Rousseff, the conference is attended by 110 countries and 70 ministers and adopts the Brasilia Declaration endorsing the target to halve road deaths and injuries by 2020.
Having completed its mission to secure full recognition of road injury as a global development issue, the Commission closes its activities. On the eve of the Brasilia Ministerial meeting, the Commission receives an International Road Safety Award from HRH Prince Michael of Kent accepted by Lord Robertson.
MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION FOR GLOBAL ROAD SAFETY
HRH Prince Michael of Kent GCVO, Patron
Rt. Hon. Lord Robertson of Port Ellen KT, GCMG Chairman
David Ward, Executive Secretary, former Director General, FIA Foundation and Senior Fellow of the Towards Zero Foundation
Rosario Alessi, former President of the Italian Automobile Club and Honorary Chairman, FIA Foundation
HE Fuad Mubarak Al-Hinai, former UN Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman
Shoshi Arakawa, former Chairman of the Board, CEO & President, Bridgestone Corporation
Rohit Baluja, President, Institute of Road Traffic Education, India
Karla Gonzalez, former Minister of Transport, Costa Rica
Colin Jordan, former Managing Director and Chief Executive, RACV Limited
Victor Kiryanov, former Deputy Interior Minister, Russian Federation
Dr John Llewellyn, Economic Policy Consultant and former Chief of Staff at the OECD in Paris
Zindzi Mandela, Trustee, Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund
Nigel Mansell CBE, President, Institute of Advanced Motorists; former F1 World Champion
Hon. Norman Mineta, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation
David Njoroge, former Director, AA Kenya (deceased)
Mark L. Rosenberg, M.D., M.P.P. Executive Director of the Task Force for Child Survival and Development
Professor Gérard Saillant, Professor at the Pitié Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris and President of the Institute for Brain and Spinal Cord Disorders
Michael Schumacher, former F1World Champion
Professor Claes Tingvall, former Director of Road Safety, Sweden
Tayce Wakefield, formerly Chair of the Global Road Safety Initiative and Executive Director, EU Affairs, for General Motors
Dr Kevin Watkins, Executive Director, Overseas Development Institute
Shigeo Watanabe, former President, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bridgestone Corporation
Prof. Fred Wegman, former Managing Director, SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research, Netherlands
Michelle Yeoh, film actress and Ambassador, Make Roads Safe Campaign
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