Marrakech, 03 October 2023 (ECA) - The Kingdom of Morocco hosted the second edition of the Kofi Annan Road Safety Award in Marrakech on September 25th and 26th, 2023. Held on the theme, “Digital Transformation and Innovations for Safer Roads”, the event was jointly organized by the Ministry of Transport and Logistics of Morocco, the National Road Safety Agency (NARSA), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety and the Kofi Annan Foundation.
The event took place against the backdrop of a devastating earthquake that hit Marrakesh and the neighboring region on September 8th and was seen as demonstration of solidarity by the regional and global community for the resilience of the Moroccan government and its people.
“We look forward to recognizing the exceptional efforts of individuals and organizations working to promote road safety on the African continent.” said the Minister of Transport and Logistics of Morocco, Mr. Mohamed Abdeljalil in advance of the ceremony.
The objective of the Kofi Annan Road Safety Award is to motivate key stakeholders – Governments, the private sector and civil society organizations – to develop and implement innovative and exceptional initiatives to save lives on African roads. This goal is aligned with the objective set by the United Nations General Assembly to reduce deaths and serious injuries linked to road accidents worldwide by 2030. This objective is taken up by the African strategic directions for the Decade of Action on Road Safety 2021-2030, adopted by the African Union in 2021. The award also aims to recognize the late Kofi Annan’s significant contributions to road safety and to inspire leadership and mobilize influential individuals to address the road safety crisis, particularly in Africa.
For his part, Mr. Jean Todt, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety stressed: “Kofi Annan’s vision and determination to raise awareness of this terrible hidden pandemic paved the way for significant advancements in road safety policies and initiatives. His legacy serves as a testament to what can be achieved through strong leadership for positive change on a global scale. The Kofi Annan Road Safety Award is a crucial platform to recognize and celebrate those who are implementing innovative solutions to address this crisis in the most affected region.”
The award recognizes governments, private sector, civil society, other organizations, as well as individuals who have made outstanding contributions to road safety in Africa. The second edition of the award specifically highly praises governments that have implemented serious measures and actions to achieve the objectives of the second UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030, aiming to halve road deaths by 2030.
Mr. Antonio Pedro, Acting Executive Secretary of the ECA reiterated the need for African countries to step up their road safety efforts considerably to stand any chance of halving road deaths by 2030. “Countries need to strengthen their road safety management capacity and use innovative technologies to significantly reduce road deaths on the continent. That is why it is important to recognize African governments and organizations that distinguish themselves through outstanding practices in road safety,” he added.
The selection criteria for the award winners includes several basics of the global and regional action plans on road safety, such as road safety management, innovation in road safety fields, reliable data management systems, effective communication efforts for the prevention of collisions due to road accidents and national funding for road safety.
The following are the winners of this second edition:
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Innovation, particularly in digitalization: Ministry of Transports – Côte d’Ivoire;
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Road safety management: Ministry of Public Works and Transport – Kingdom of Eswatini;
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Data management: Ministry of Living Environment and Transport, responsible for Sustainable Development – Republic of Benin;
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Safer vehicles: Ministry of Infrastructure – Republic of Rwanda;
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Public transportation/Modal shift: Ministry of Transport and Logistics – Republic of Ethiopia;
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Communication (Private sector, NGOs, Academia, Ministry of Transports, CEO – SECUROUTE) – Cameroun;
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Road Safety / Honor Award: NARSA – Morocco.
A number of sessions and workshops were held during this event dealing with topics such as building a digital approach, setting the technical, regulatory and financial environment and experiences across Africa in the use of digitalization and the management of road safety and action and work plan of African Road safety observatory.
The two-day event was attended by high-level political leaders, senior road safety officials, and experts from the host country, the Kingdom of Morocco, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), and representatives from various organizations and agencies from other African countries.
Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: eca-info@un.org