Workshop on Road Safety and CSOs in the Eastern Partnership Countries

One of our Asian Regional Leaders, Mariam Kukava, was a panelist in the discussion of a workshop on road safety in Eastern Partnership Member Countries organized for civil society activists. The event was chaired by Jonathon Passmore, Programme Manager – Road Safety, Violence & Injury Prevention at the World Health Organisation European Regional Office.

The workshop was initiated within the framework of the new Eastern Partnership Road Safety Observatory (EaP RSO). The main goal of the workshop was to learn about the United Nations Road Safety Decade of Action 2021-2030 and its relevance to road safety work being done by the attendees.

The Workshop was an opportunity to link civil society organizations to the planned work of the new Eastern Partnership Road Safety Observatory and to regional and global actions promoting safe and sustainable transport.

During her intervention, Mariam highlighted the main environmental concerns related to transportation and the achievements of the Partnership for Road Safety Foundation, the organization she works for, in terms of changing the public policy agenda. She discussed the vital links between road safety and other areas of public policy. This includes the protection of the environment and the promotion of active modes of mobility like walking, rolling, and cycling.

Mariam also highlighted some of the awareness and advocacy campaigns that challenged the traditional view of private vehicles taking over city streets and roads. She talked about the activities that have provided tools, built local capacities, and promoted international practice to encourage the authorities to re-imagine streets as safe, shared, and healthy places.

The EaP RSO is an initiative of the Eastern Partnership countries with the common goal of advancing toward the eradication of road traffic fatal and non-fatal injuries by sharing good practices and interchanging data to help create a solid body of evidence-based practice.

The EaP RSO is supported by the World Bank (WB) jointly with the European Commission, with a Technical Secretariat hosted by Georgia and comprised of the International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University Policy Institute (ISET) and the Eastern Alliance for Safe & Sustainable Transport (EASST).