Remarks by H.E. Mr. Abdulla Shahid, President of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly
New York,
October 28, 2021
Excellences, ladies, and gentlemen
It is my pleasure to join you as we launch the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030.
This Global Plan will guide our efforts to make our roads safer in the coming years, saving lives, and preventing serious injuries.
This important document is the result of your collective efforts, and I congratulate the World Health Organization and our road safety partners on this achievement.
The impetus behind this plan comes from UN General Assembly resolution 74/299 on “Improving global road safety”, which proclaimed the years 2021-2030 as the Second Decade of Action for Road Safety.
Excellencies,
It is up to us now to deliver on the resolution’s target: to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries caused by road traffic accidents by at least fifty percent by 2030.
In line with this, and as further mandated by the resolution, the General Assembly will hold a High-Level Meeting on Road Safety in 2022. Ahead of this, on 3 December, I will host a one-day supporting event as part of the preparations for this High-Level Meeting.
This preparatory meeting will include both an interactive thematic dialogue on how we can best invest in road safety, as well as a multi-stakeholder hearing, during which the Global Plan will be the centerpiece of our discussions.
We will explore options on how we can accelerate the plan’s implementation. And we will learn from each other on how we can best seize opportunities and overcome challenges relevant to road safety.
Excellencies
I call on all member states to be well represented at the supporting event and the High-Level Road Safety event, to reflect the increased political priority we give to this important issue.
Each year over a million people die because of road accidents. This is a tragedy of monumental scale, one we cannot in good conscience ignore.
We have the power to make that change.
During my ‘Presidency of Hope’, I will stand alongside you and help galvanize the political will needed to comprehensively address road safety, implement the Global Plan, and build ‘streets for life’.
Thank you.
Throughout our disarmament efforts, it is my conviction that women and youth can make a meaningful contribution. Let us take special pains to ensure that women and youth, as well as civil society, are more actively engaged in this work going forward.
