Eswatini has launched a seven-year road safety strategy as part of its drive to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries due to accidents by 2063, according to an announcement from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
In his keynote address at the launch, the Prime Minister of Eswatini, Cleopas Sipho Dlamini, emphasised the benefits of the safe road system approach contained in the strategy, noting that "humans are prone to make errors in judgement and poor decisions and the approach incorporates this reality in the design and operation of the road network”.
Fortunate Shabalala, chair of the Road Safety Council of the Kingdom of Eswatini, said that the bulk of road accidents in the Kingdom resulted from human error. She stressed that road accidents constituted an intolerable burden on communities as well as an unacceptable price to pay for economic development.
Robert Lisinge, officer in charge of the Private Sector Development and Finance Division, representing ECA, lauded the Kingdom of Eswatini for developing the strategy. In implementing it, he recommended that focus should be placed on “strengthening the Kingdom’s road safety legislative framework, strengthening road safety funding arrangements, and building capacity of road safety stakeholders”.
The launch is in accordance with the mandate of the ECA, which, along with partners in the UN system, is implementing the call by the United Nations General Assembly to the World Health Organization to support the implementation of the UN Road Safety Global Action Plan for this decade.
