Project Summary
Transaid was invited by the Ministry of Works and Transport (MoWT) in Uganda to provide technical assistance to develop a National Road Safety Strategy in conjunction with the Association of Industrial Road Safety Officers (AIRSO).
Transaid will facilitate a relationship between AIRSO in the UK and the Ministry of Works and Transport in Uganda. In this context, the named person on behalf of AIRSO will be Graham Feest FIRSO, M.Inst MTD, FAIRSO and any subsequent reference to AIRSO should be seen as a reference to Graham Feest of AIRSO.
All of the support provided to this project by Transaid and AIRSO is at no cost to the MoWT.
The Problem
The global road safety crisis is becoming an increasingly worrying phenomenon. In 2004 the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention highlighted the scale of the problem stating “Road traffic injuries are a growing public health issue” and that there is also a trend for lower income countries to carry a disproportionate burden of suffering.
Worldwide every year there are 1.2 million people killed on the roads, 50 million people are disabled or injured and 96 of every 100 child road deaths are in low income countries. At a meeting of the World Bank’s Sub Saharan Africa Transport Policy Program in Burkina Faso (2007) it was also stated that “Road crashes killed more young adults (aged between 15 and 44 yrs) in Sub Saharan Africa than malaria”.
In Uganda, road traffic has increased by 90% since 2000 and in 2007 almost 10,000 people were injured and over 2,000 died from road traffic accidents. This poses a significant strain on already stretched health facilities and poor families who may experience the loss of income from a breadwinner in addition to the burden of caring for those injured.
Forecasts predict that in the coming decade road crashes will become the third highest cause of premature death amongst all age groups in Sub Saharan Africa unless something is done to prevent this.
The Process
Transaid is facilitating the relationship between the MoWT in Uganda and Graham Feest of AIRSO, UK who will provide technical assistance for the development of the strategy. Transaid will provide expertise regarding the implementation of projects in Sub-Saharan Africa and in the Ugandan transport sector context.
Transaid and AIRSO will provide support to:
• review and comment on the draft strategy as developed by the ministry.
• provide key recommendations to be added to the draft strategy which have been well researched to the prove their efficacy.
• aid the facilitation of a stakeholder meeting at the end of the development process
• liaise with with appropriate stakeholders in Europe on the MoWT’s behalf when it is appropriate for the advancement of the project.
Partners
Ministry of Works and Transport, Uganda
National Road Safety Council, Uganda
Graham Feest - Association of Industrial Road Safety Officers (AIRSO), UK
The Results
The main output of this work will be the development of a National Road Safety Strategy based on best practise recommendations from the WHO and the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP). This will provide immediate guidance for road safety activities undertaken by the National Road Safety Council.
The Impact
The development and implementation of a road safety strategy to reduce the number of crashes on Uganda’s roads will contribute to reducing the number of fatalities and injuries which occur all too often. Aside from social tragedy and the health costs, frequent crashes involving commercial vehicles also carry a significant economic cost. This is filtered down to the household level when the loss suffered is the most economically productive member of the family. The improvement of road safety will therefore have a direct impact on poverty reduction in addition to helping sustain a more efficient economy.
