The second edition of the Kofi Annan Road Safety Prize will be held in Marrakech on September 25-26, 2023, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has announced.
A press release from the ECA-UN indicates that the event, the first edition of which was held in Ghana in 2022, will take place under the aegis of the Moroccan government, the ECA-UN, the Secretariat of the Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary General for Road Safety and the Kofi Annan Foundation.
Morocco is a leading country in road safety in Africa, underlines the ECA-UN, noting that a giant step was taken in 2020 in the Kingdom with the creation of the National Road Safety Agency (NARSA) , “which is self-sustaining and fully funded”.
NARSA crowns the legacy of the National Committee for the Prevention of Traffic Accidents (CNPAC), created in 1977, the same source observes, adding that Morocco is making enormous efforts to promote South-South cooperation with its partners. Africans on road transport and road safety.
The 2023 edition of the Prize aims to motivate key stakeholders to develop and implement innovative ideas and initiatives to save lives on the roads in Africa, says UNECA, adding that the prize will reward governments , the private sector, civil society organizations and individuals who have made outstanding contributions to road safety in the continent.
Quoted by the statement, the Minister of Transport and Logistics, Mohamed Abdeljalil, noted that “as a country, we are committed to making our roads safer, as evidenced by the creation in 2020 of NARSA”.
“It is with great pride and anticipation that the Moroccan government awaits the ceremonies of the second edition of the Kofi Annan Prize,” the minister stressed, adding that “we look forward to recognizing the exceptional efforts of individuals and organizations working for the promotion of road safety on the African continent”.
The second edition will specifically reward governments that have implemented serious measures and actions to achieve the goals of the Second Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030, aimed at halving road deaths by 2030.
The ceremony will take place in the presence of senior political leaders, road safety officials and experts from Morocco, the Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for Road Safety, the Executive Secretary of ECA-UN and representatives of various organizations and agencies.
According to the same source, nominations for the 2023 edition will be open from June 1 to June 30, 2023, while the finalists will be announced in July.
Morocco won, in 2022 in Accra, the first edition of the Kofi Annan Prize in recognition of the efforts of the Kingdom and its African leadership in road safety.
The Kofi Annan Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization established in Switzerland in 2007 by former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan.