Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, Minister of Education and Higher Education H E Dr Mohammed Abdul Wahed Al Hammadi and Minister of Public Health H E Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari (right) at the launch
DOHA: Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani yesterday launched the second action plan of the National Traffic Safety Strategy (2018-2022).
The event was attended by a number of Their Excellencies the ministers and representatives of concerned authorities and international experts on traffic safety.
The National Traffic Safety Committee also held the fifth forum of concerned authorities related to the implementation of traffic strategy.
The two-day forum will discuss many important topics including road safety and UN sustainable development goals, achievements and challenges in road safety, major event management and importance of transport sector, traffic flow management, threats and risks management, smart transport system, traffic accidents management and the requirements of traffic safety management.
United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, Jean Todt addressed the forum through a video message. The envoy lauded the efforts made by Qatar and concerned authorities to reduce the number of deaths due to road accidents and to achieve the sustainable development goals by 2030.
He underscored that the figures indicate Qatar has been moving in the right direction that helped Qatar to be placed at the forefront of Middle East countries in reducing the number of road accidents.
There are three major challenges identified by the United Nations facing the countries of the world: traffic safety and congestion in cities, the economy and national security. He said that the United Nations has issued its resolutions, which called on countries to reduce the number of road accident deaths by 50 percent globally by 2020 and adopt the goals of sustainable development.
Todt said since the launch of the National Road Safety Strategy in January 2013, Qatar had been able to occupy a prominent position at the global level in this area.
Brigadier Muhammad Saad Al Kharji, Director General of General Directorate of Traffic said that the second action plan of National Traffic Safety Strategy included input of stakeholders and the community, as well as scientific research through the development of the global security system adopted by the United Nations to meet the requirements of fast-growing countries such as Qatar. “It ensures effectiveness by linking road safety to the UN goals for sustainable development, economic growth and national security of the State,” he said. Traffic and Transport Sectors are two complex sectors that require joint action to implement and develop the national strategy for traffic safety to build a modern state.
Brigadier Muhammad Abdullah Al Maliki, Secretary of National Traffic Safety Committee said that the conformity of security and safety of the transport of individuals and goods constitutes the backbone of the development of society because of their relationship with the requirements of citizens and facilities of daily life. The National Traffic Safety Committee has taken the responsibility for transforming the vision of Qatar’s wise leadership into a reality that meets the aspirations of its citizens and responds to the comprehensive renaissance phase witnessed by the State in various vital sectors, especially the transport and traffic safety sectors.
In order to improve the performance and quality assurance in the implementation of the second phase of the strategy, the Prime Minister and Interior Minister, who is also the Chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee, has entrusted the Secretariat to organise the fifth forum of coordinators with the cooperation of all concerned parties in order to learn about the positive and negative aspects of the first phase of the strategy and required improvement in the second phase. Prof Kim Jraiw, Manager of the National Road Safety Office, pointed out that the implementation plan for the second phase is based on a number of pillars.
They include the directives of the Chairman, the recommendations of the National Committee, the decisions of the Council of Ministers and United Nations ratified by Qatar, lessons learnt from the first phase and development of the monitoring and evaluation system.
He said that in accordance with the decision of the Council of Ministers, 10 specialised working groups were established including awareness and information group, the congestion group, the accident investigation group, the speed management group, the pedestrian group, the coordinators group and the research group.
