Gareth Thomas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to encourage the European Commission and the World Bank to promote road safety in their infrastructure funding; and if she will make a statement.

Grant Shapps

Road traffic injuries cost developing countries an estimated 1-2% of their gross national product, equivalent to over US$100 billion annually, with a widening of the disparity between advanced and developing countries. Road accidents kill an estimated 1.3 million people and injure up to 78 million people each year.

DFID is committed to supporting the international community to reach the Sustainable Developments Goals, including Goal 11 which includes improving Road Safety as one of its targets.

DFID recently increased its funding to the Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF) hosted at the World Bank and will contribute £4.5 million between 2013 and 2017. The GRSF provides funding, knowledge, and technical assistance that lever road safety investments into transport sector programmes.

We also work with the European Commission through the Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund for financing transport projects. Through our role on the Global Road Safety Facility and our work on transport with Multilateral Development Banks we require all such projects to include stronger components on road safety.