UN-WB team arrives this month to discuss road safety issue
Rezaul Karim | Wednesday, 4 September 2019
A joint mission of the United Nations and the World Bank is set to arrive in Dhaka this month to discuss road safety issues with the stakeholders, officials said.
The visit of the mission is going to take place against the backdrop of growing number of road accidents in the country.
The high-powered mission is expected to visit Dhaka on September 23-24 to discuss the issue, a high official of the Economic relations Division (ERD) told the FE.
Earlier, the UN secretary-general's special envoy for road safety sent a letter to Monowar Ahmed, ERD secretary, and M Shameem Ahsan, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations offices in Geneva, about the visit.
The members of the mission are expected to meet the Prime Minister, the Road Transport and Bridges minister and the Health and Family Welfare minister during the visit.
They would discuss the road safety situation in Bangladesh and potential opportunities for accelerating progress as well as the way forward, according to the letter.
"As part of our responsibilities, both World Bank and United Nations travel to different countries and meet with high-level stakeholders across the globe to mobilise sustained political commitment to address road safety, encourage stronger action and adequate funding to the issue," the letter mentioned.
Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of road deaths in the region.
According to the World Health Organisation's 2018 Global Status Report on Road Safety, road injury is among the top five causes of deaths for children and young working-age adults in Bangladesh.
The letter mentioned that the human suffering, the economic cost of crash deaths and injuries is substantial.
The WB and the UN, within the framework of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 and the 2030 Development Agenda, set SDG targets 3.6 and 11.2 to halve the number of road traffic fatalities by 2020, and to provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all by 2030.
Recently, a committee has submitted to the government a report with 111 recommendations to bring discipline on roads and curb road accidents.
The committee, headed by Mr Shahjahan Khan, prepared the report in the backdrop of little progress in the enforcement of a related law -- Road Transport Act (RTA).