Last year the UN General Assembly designated Sweden as the host of the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety. The conference, February 19-20 in Stockholm 2020, marks the end of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011–2020. The aim is to reach a global consensus on guidelines for road safety up to 2030 and help make roads safe around the world. It will also be the place to discuss the path, ambition and strategies ahead. Sweden is looking for an inclusive process. At the ITF Summit 2019 conference, Swedish government Offices organise a Stakeholder Event as a part in preparing the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference. 

A significant change compared with ten years ago is the United Nation’s sustainability goals. These goals give a new structure to sustainability and have added traffic safety as one of the elements. As the 2030 Agenda goals are indivisible, there are possibilities to find synergies between road traffic safety and other sustainability areas. Illegal speeding is emitting lots of CO2. Unsafe traffic environment is diminishing active mobility. Gender imbalances can result in a car-centric planning of our cities. The synergies need to be discussed and the new opportunities explored. 

This session invites speakers and attendants to discuss the potential content of the 2020 ministerial conference and – more importantly – the guidelines for the future work on road safety. Potential areas of discussion may be road safety issues integration with other UN’s sustainable development goals, future global collaboration for road safety and general strategies for safer roads around the world. 

Background 3rd Global Ministerial Conference 

Sweden is to host the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety on 19–20 February 2020 at Waterfront Congress Centre in Stockholm. The conference will be co-sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO), and minister-led delegations from more than 80 countries are expected to attend. Representatives from the world of industry and research, international institutions and other global organizations will also participate.

Every year there are about 1.35 million road traffic fatalities globally. This not only causes human suffering, but also major economic losses. In a vigorous effort to prevent this, world leaders gathered in Moscow in 2009 to declare 2011–2020 a Decade of Action for Road Safety. The Decade of Action has encouraged action at all levels of society, but the focus is primarily national and local. Five pillars have been established to guide the efforts of national and local governments. A follow-up conference was held in Brasilia in 2015. The Stockholm conference marks the end of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety and the starting point for continued collaboration on road safety.

Some facts (WHO Global status report on Road Safety 2018)

• Over 3 700 people die on the world's roads every day and tens of millions of people are injured or disabled every year. 
• The number of road traffic deaths continues to rise steadily, reaching 1.35 million in 2016. The rate of death relative to the size of the world’s population has remained constant. 
• Children, pedestrians, cyclists and older people are among the most vulnerable of road users.
• Road traffic injuries are currently the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5–29 years. 
• There has been no reduction in the number of road traffic deaths in any low-income country since 2013.

Speakers; 

• Mr Tomas Eneroth, Swedish Minister of Infrastructure, Host
• Mr. Abdelkader Amara, Morocco Minister of Equipment, Transport, Logistics and Water,  
• Ms Karla Gonzalez Carvajal, Manager for Europe and Lead Manager for the Gender Agenda in the Transport Sector, The World Bank
• Ms Emma Maclennan, Director General of the Eastern Alliance for Safe & Sustainable Transport 
• Ms. Seleta Reynolds, General Manager, Los Angeles Department of Transportation
• Mr David Ward, President & Chief Executive Officer, Toward Zero Foundation
• Mr Anders Lie, Special Adviser at the Swedish Ministry of Infrastructure, Moderator