DELEGATE RECOMMENDATIONS
Regarding United Nations Road Safety Legal Instruments
After much dialogue amongst stakeholders at the workshop, the following
recommendations were made in relation to United Nations road safety international
legal instruments.
UNECE in collaboration with UNECA
• Provide guidance/information on how to access all relevant documents on United Nations
Road Safety Conventions, including the Conventions on Road Traffic of 1949 and
of 1968, Convention on Road Signs and Signals of 1968, and the European Agreement
concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR).
• Provide advisory services and capacity building to African countries on the accession
and implementation of provisions of United Nations road safety conventions.
• Raise the awareness of African countries on the institutional arrangements
and benefits of various road safety conventions, such as the ECOSOC Committee
of Experts on Transport of Dangerous Goods, the UNECE Inland Transport Committee
(ITC) and its Working Party on Road Traffic Safety.
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African Countries and Regional Organisations
• African countries and regional associations such as the West African Road Safety
Association of ECOWAS could participate in meetings of the ECOSOC Committee
of Experts on Dangerous Goods and the UNECE Working Party on Road Safety.
However, they require funds to enable their participation in such meetings. In this
regard, the possibility of establishing Public Private Partnerships to create Trust
Funds, as well as other funding options, for the participation of African countries and
organisations in these meetings should be explored.
• Some African countries have domestic laws on the transport of dangerous goods.
However, these laws are often out of date and not consistent with the international
United Nations regulatory system, and African countries lack the capacity to enforce
them. Moreover, many national stakeholders are not fully aware of the laws. These
countries therefore require capacity building support from development partners
in bringing these laws in line with the United Nations Recommendations on the
Transport of Dangerous Goods and ADR and their implementation.
• African transport corridor organisations and their relevant stakeholders, including
the private sector, should be engaged in efforts to implement road safety laws and
regulations and those on the transport of dangerous goods.
Other recommendations made at the event included the following:
• Efforts should be made to mainstream road safety in the Post-2015 Development
Agenda as well as discussions on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
• In light of the growing road safety challenge posed by the growth in the use
of motorcycles, African countries are encouraged to participate in a conference on
two-wheelers that will be organized by UNECE in collaboration with other United
Nations regional commissions in 2015.
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