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[pre-recorded video message]

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Special Envoy Todt, thank you for the opportunity to address you all today.

Just months ago, the first United Nations High-Level Meeting on Road Safety was successfully convened.

It reignited the global effort to reduce road traffic deaths by 50% by 2030.

Friends,

Each year, almost 1.3 million deaths and 50 million injuries occur on the road. All of which are preventable.

Every single loss of life is regrettable. It also leaves huge collateral damage behind ¨C be it social, psychological, or economic.

Being safe on the road should not be a luxury.

We pledged to achieve the SDG target 3.6: halving the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2020.

We failed.

So, what can we do to meet the 2030 goal of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Decade of Action for Road Safety?

I come to you today with four suggestions:

One. We must take a wholistic approach towards road safety.

We must ensure this important element of our well-being is not left out of decision-making at any level on the path towards 2030.

Road safety must be integrated into the evolving new measurement for sustainable development: Beyond GDP.

Two. Investment into road safety infrastructure and technologies ¨C especially in low to middle income countries, where most road accidents occur ¨C is paramount.

In public funds and donor development assistance, road safety must be prioritized.

Three. Listening to science.

Road safety legislation and policymaking can only be improved if it includes high-quality data and scientific evidence.

Exchanges of expertise, scientific cooperation and capacity building must inform policies and be used to assess implementation, especially for vulnerable countries.

Four. Building partnerships.

Urban planners, engineers, academics, civil society, youth ¨C all have a critical role to play in making roads safer.

I also strongly encourage not just automobiles manufacturers, but the private sector in general, to integrate road safety into their value chain.

Finally, the private sector could contribute more to promoting greater road safety awareness as part of their corporate social responsibility.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Implementing these suggestions could significantly enhance the safety of our roads.

I wish you every success in your quest for saving lives and improving the health of eight billion of us all over the world.

I thank you.