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The Special Envoy's visit to Uganda

From 26 to 28 August, Jean Todt had a series of meetings in Uganda with the Prime Minister and Ministers (Interior, Transport), UNCT and Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), that highlighted an existence of a real concern among political figures, at all levels, to tackle road safety issues. During the meeting with the Prime Minister and his office, the agreement was reached to set up a task force between the Minister of Interior, the Minister of Works and Transportation, and the Minister of Health in order to meet the goal of diminishing the road traffic related death toll by 50 per cent.
The Minister of Interior explained that currently, there is a lack of coordination within the government on road safety. The Minister for Transport was accompanied by four representatives (Licensing, Traffic, Infrastructure and the National Road Safety Council). It was noted that discussions are ongoing with UNECE with regard to ratification of the 1968 conventions concerning road safety. They informed the Special Envoy that a road safety week was planned for the end of the year. The need to improve law enforcement was also emphasized. Furthermore, the Special Envoy had detailed discussions with the Transport Minister and his team on adoption of the rules of the UNECE World Forum on vehicle regulations. Among the issues that were discussed were the following: a specific task force to improve post-crash care; the problem of the age of the car fleet in Uganda; progress and the need for law enforcement, especially for 2-wheel vehicles (helmet and reflecting devices) and pedestrians (definition of a legal framework); the Transportation Minister’s participation in Brasilia event; follow-up with the Special Envoy and the task force on road safety at the Presidential office.
The Special Envoy also met with the following UN country team representatives while in Uganda: Coordinator of United Nations in Uganda / PNUD Resident Representative represented by Ms. Michelle Iseminger; OMS’ Dr. Alemu Wondimagegnehu; UNICEF’s Ms. Aida Girma; PNUD’s Ms. Almaz Gebru; FAO’s Mr. Alhaji M. Jallow; and PAM’s Mr. Michael Dunford.