Hon. John Mutorwa, Minister of Works and Transport launched the 7^th UN Global Road Safety Week on Monday and relayed his message on sustainable mobility systems that caters for all road users including pedestrians and cyclists. He said that the ‘2^nd Decade of action on Road Safety for Namibia emphasizes the understanding that road traffic deaths and injuries can be avoided, provided that the entire transportation system is holistically addressed, and actions are taken to ensure safer mobility across all modes’. 

He further said that the UN Global Road Safety Week is another opportunity for the National road Safety Council and all its stakeholder to strengthen the required measures for safer mobility, safer infrastructure planning, construction, and usage by all including the vulnerable road user groups. 

Speaking on behalf of WHO Representative Dr Charles Sagoe-Moses, Mrs. Kaunatjike Health Promotion and Social Determinants Officer echoed the Minister’s sentiments and stated that ‘A new vision of mobility would demand building or redesigning roads, not for cars, but for all road users.  Governments could achieve this by increasing investments in modes such as walking, cycling and public transport’.

Speaking at the same occasion, Mr. Jonas Sheelongo, the Deputy Executive Director for Transport in the Ministry of Works and Transport said that ‘it has been recognized that a prerequisite for shifting to these modes is to ensure that roads are safe for all who use them.  This means all road user categories must be accommodated when roads are planned and constructed. Facilities for vulnerable road user groups should not be an afterthought but must be made an integral part of road design, particularly in urban road environments’

We continue to pay an unacceptable toll for our mobility with 1.3 million deaths and as many as 50 million injuries on the world’s roads each year, Mrs. Kaunatjike said.

Mrs. Kaunatjike further said that Africa has the highest deaths, in the world, due to road traffic with 26.6 deaths per 100,000 population.  This is most likely to increase in this decade given that the continent has a combination of risk factors including high number of vulnerable road users accounting for the highest mortality rates at 44% (pedestrians and motorcyclists). As a continent we have under-developed road infrastructure, poor vehicle conditions, lack of risk awareness and ineffective law enforcement all which exacerbate the risk on the roads.

If the situation remains the same, it is estimated that road traffic will cause a further 13 million deaths and 500 million injuries globally, in the next decade, with high death rates particularly in low- and middle-income countries such as Namibia. 

In 2022, Namibia recorded 466 deaths and 18 injuries per 100,000 population due to road traffic accidents. 

Recently, WHO launched the 2nd Global Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 with the ambiguous target to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries by at least 50%.  Namibia is forerunner in Africa on road safety and was the first country to have launched the Country’s 2nd Decade of Action in March 2022, with a target of Zero Deaths due to road traffic by ……(is this by 2030??.

Making way for safe walking and cycling can impact favorably on health and the environment, allowing people to reap the rewards of being physically active and breathing clean air, Mrs. Kaunatjike concluded. 

The UN Global Road Safety Week is celebrated annually to raise awareness on the importance of road safety. Namibia through the National Road Safety Council will be running an awareness campaign on safe and sustainable mobility.