NEW YORK, U.S - May 21, 2012

The FIA Foundation published a summary of the Decade of Action Policy & Donor Forum that took place in New York on May 2nd:

“The 2012 Decade of Action Policy & Donor Forum, held in New York City on 2nd May, has reviewed progress in the first year of the UN’s decade-long campaign to drive down road traffic casualties.

The Forum, organised by the Commission for Global Road Safety and the Road Safety Fund, brought together senior policymakers, NGO activists and representatives of the philanthropic and corporate sectors. […]

Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City and the world’s leading road safety philanthropist, was Guest of Honour at the Forum and made a keynote address as he collected the first ‘Decade of Action Award’ from HRH Prince Michael of Kent. The Forum was also the venue for the announcement of a new ‘Zenani Mandela’ global road safety advocacy campaign led by the Mandela Family in memory of their lost child. […]

The Forum heard a Decade progress report from Dr Etienne Krug, Director of Injury Prevention at the World Health Organization and the Chairman of the UN Road Safety Collaboration, who highlighted the large number of country level legislative and practical initiatives being developed as a result of the Decade’s launch, as well as updates on domestic and global leadership from David Strickland, Administrator of the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).[…]

The forthcoming Rio+20 sustainable development conference was a major topic for the Forum, in a session chaired by the Guardian’s Executive Editor Jo Confino as part of the media partnership between the Guardian and the Road Safety Fund to increase reporting of global road traffic injuries.[…]

The role of existing donors and the challenge of encouraging new supporters to the cause was the final theme of the Forum. Dr Ileana Arias, Deputy Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, described the role the US government is beginning to play in supporting global road safety activity, including through supporting and evaluating the Global Helmet Vaccine Initiative in Cambodia and Uganda.“