A kick-off meeting took place in mid-March for a two-year program led by the Traffic Safety Department of the Ministry of Transportation (MOT) in Vietnam and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). The program is aimed at strengthening national road safety management capacities in Vietnam. AIP Foundation was invited to attend and lend its expertise in the implementation of road safety projects on a nationwide level.

Mr. Nenad Nikolic, Regional Advisor of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, highlighted the importance of partnerships such as these and said that more focus was needed on the five main pillars of road safety: road safety management, safer roads and mobility, safer vehicles, safer road users, and post-crash response.

The MOT in Vietnam suggested UNESCAP focus on providing appropriate road construction support to Vietnam, where there is a distinct lack of sufficient traffic signaling devices and other safety measures. In addition, support was requested from UNESCAP for the training of senior investigators for traffic safety assessments; trainings for investigation and data collection at high-risk (“black spot”) crash areas; trainings on urban traffic management at the national and provincial levels; and traffic law advocacy.