Meetings and Events

Second meeting of the Western Balkans Road Safety Observatory: “Role of the Traffic Safety Agency and Importance of reliable data in Policy Making”

6-7 December 2021 | Skopje

The Road Safety Conference and the Second meeting of Western Balkans Road Safety Observatory (WBRSO) highlighted the “Role of the Traffic Safety Agency and Importance of Reliable Data in Policy Making”. The event was held in Skopje on December 6-7,2021 and co-organised by the Transport Community, Macedonian Ministry of Transport and Communications and the World Bank. Participants highlighted the importance of a holistic approach to road safety and called for improvements in the design of roads and vehicles, better laws and law enforcement and provision of timely, life-saving emergency care for injured.

Several EU Member States have shown significant progress in the area of road safety that can be replicated in the region. Their policy is guided by the European Commission, which based its road safety policy framework for 2021 to 2030 on the Safe System approach. This approach, derived from European best practice and now recommended globally by the World Health Organization, reframes the road safety policy by focusing on preventing deaths and serious injuries.

The agenda

2021 iRAP Innovation Workshop with RRSOs:  “Data Driven Innovation to Save Lives”

Registrations are now open for the 2021 iRAP Innovation Workshop co-hosted with the Regional Road Safety Observatories (RRSOs) on 7 and 14 October, to shine a light on “Data Driven Innovation to Halve Global Road Deaths by 2030”.

Effective action, policy-making and investment will require accurate road safety data collected through transparent, rigorous and efficient methods that meet the global safety standard for benchmarking and comparison across time.

The Regional Road Safety Observatories (RRSOs) in Africa (ARSO), Asia-Pacific (APRSO), Ibero-America (OISEVI), Europe (ERSO) and Western Balkans (WBRSO) supported by iRAP and other intergovernmental organisations, aim to accelerate country-level improvements in data collection, analyses and decision making.

For more information and registration link please follow the link.

First meeting of the Western Balkans Road Safety Observatory

9 July 2021 | online

Western Balkans Road Safety Observatory had its kick-off meeting on 8 July 2021, via video conference. This introductory meeting was a great opportunity to meet and bring all together with the members from the transport, police and health sector. EC and International Organizations: FIA, World Bank and WHO offered their support and willingness to collaborate with the members of the WBRSO.  A three-year Work Plan for the WBRSO was presented to the members in view for future discussion within their structures and adoption in the Steering Committee of Transport Community foreseen to be held in October 2021.

In the meeting participated also the Secretaries of OISEVI and APRSO who gave a short introduction of those observatories. Joining the global network of Road Safety Observatory opens the gate of opportunities for creating synergies with other regions and will increase the level of capacity building for the region with the main aim of improving data.

Agenda

Presentations of the Three year Work Plan

Conclusions

Inauguration of the Western Balkans Road Safety Observatory at the 4th Ministerial Council

5 July 2021 | Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenia

Western Balkans Road Safety Observatory was inaugurated on the occasion of the 4th Transport Community Ministerial Council, on 5 July 2021. Western Balkans Road Safety Observatory will aim at further improving and strengthening the capacities of regional road safety experts. It will represent a tool for designing of road safety strategies, improving data collection and measuring the progress towards reducing road casualties. The goal in establishing the Western Balkans Road Safety Observatory is to offer a regional platform for the exchange of information and strategies, action plans and initiatives in road safety at a regional level.

Mr Jean Todt, United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, dedicated a speech to the participants and Western Balkans region highlighting that: “Today’s inauguration is a major milestone for the region. This represents a new opportunity for governments to work with their partners in public health, transport, law enforcement, civil society, and the private sector. The objective is to promote targeted interventions to reduce the number of deaths and injuries on the roads.”

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