RA National Road Safety Council of the Republic of Armenia meets in the first sitting

National Road Safety Council of the Republic of Armenia called its first sitting at the Office of Government, chaired by council head, RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan.
Addressing those present, the Prime Minister said: “Civil society urged us to set up a national council on road traffic safety. They had prepared quite a serious and comprehensive document which was subsequently finalized and discussed by corresponding government agencies. As a result, we have a government-approved strategic paper which seeks to cope with road traffic safety-related threats in the Republic of Armenia.”

Head of Secretariat of Council Poghos Shahinyan reported back the steps implemented in 2009-2010 under the five-year program, including the first world ministerial congress which was held in Moscow last November and the “Safe Villages” pilot program as implemented by the World Bank and the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Road accidents were said to have decreased in 2009 according to official statistics. In this light, the council discussed the possibility of introducing a road safety audit system in the Republic of Armenia.

The council next discussed and approved a proposal on amendments to the aforementioned five-year program applicable to Yerevan and the provinces, as well as the compositions and the terms of reference of corresponding task forces. The meeting endorsed the proposal on initiating a public awareness raising campaign by means of advertisements and TV broadcasts.
International coordinator of FIA Foundation Dmitry Sambuk presented the UN-supported Decade of Action 2011-2020 to be launched on May 11, 2011 in an effort to save 5 million lives worldwide by the end of 2020. In this context, road safety measures were said due to be implemented in Armenia this November 15 — 20 within “Make Roads Safe” campaign.

The Prime Minister told the Council Secretariat to forward the action plan to all the agencies concerned.