First UN Global Road Safety Week Observed 23-28 April Be Part of the Solution on Azerbaijani Roads - pay attention to safety for your own sake and for the sake of your families and all of us Azerbaijani government and journalists responded enthusiastically to the call from United Nations Department of Public Information (UN DPI) office in Azerbaijan "to take an active role in raising awareness about the societal impact of road traffic injuries". Kicking off on Monday 23 April 2007 series of events took place surrounding the First UN Global Road Safety Week observance devoted to 'young users' in Azerbaijan.    Over the last year in Azerbaijan 53 per cent of the 1027 killed in more than 3000 accidents were young road users and 109 of these were children. Road accidents caused 90 deaths and 422 injuries in Baku alone during the first quarter of 2007 and the number of road accidents and injuries compared to the same period last year increased by 12% and 37% respectively. These alarming statistics were highlighted at a Baku press briefing as part of a broader activities initiated by the UN DPI office in observance of the Week. On 24 April 2007, the UN DPI office teamed up with the Country Office of the World Health Organization (WHO) and five ministries of Azerbaijani Government (Ministries of Health, Internal Affairs, Youth and Sport, Education, and Transport) to renew public and media interest in road safety, its grave consequences and the enormous cost to society, in additional to informing the wider audience about various practical activities surrounding the week of observance. Mr. Erestun Mejidov, Head of the Department of Road Safety Promotion and Public Relations of the Central State Traffic Police Office in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, noted that in Azerbaijan 53 per cent of the 1027 killed in some 3197 accidents last year were young road users and 109 of these were children. Mr. Mejidov also provided some details about a road safety campaign planned by his department, including a special road safety class prepared together with the Ministry of Education. "Road safety is no accident, everybody from families and schools to business and the government sector should take deliberate efforts to take action" he added. Reminded of the devastating effects of road accidents, the DPI Representative in UN Azerbaijan office Ms. Envera Selimovic emphasised that "road collisions kill or injure more than one million people every year, and disable as many as 50 million more around the globe." Highlighting the fact that young road users suffer the heaviest burden from traffic injuries, Ms. Selimovic referenced the UN Secretary-General's message and his remarks on the need for regulation at the highest level of Government to improve road safety. She continued by thanking ministry representatives and finished her remarks with an appeal to the public, reminding the audience that everyone has a role to play in the prevention of road traffic injuries: "Be part of the solution in Azerbaijan - pay attention to safety for your own sake and for the sake off your families and all of us". "Road traffic injuries are a major global public health and development problem," warned the Head of WHO Country Office in Azerbaijan Mr. Kamran Garakhanov. Reminded of the fact that road traffic deaths represent more than 2.1% of all global mortalities, the rate is comparable to the number of deaths caused by major "killers" such as malaria and tuberculosis. He also noted that traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for people aged 10 to 24 years. Traffic injuries can be prevented, said Mr. Garakhanov, pointing to the importance of the implementation of the recommendations of the WHO's 'World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention'. "Road safety should be our daily concern and I would like to thank the UN DPI office for drawing our attention to this topical issue" said Mr. Intigam Babayev, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sport. He announced that the Ministry, together with several youth unions, have just launched a new campaign within the Global Road Safety Week. "During this week young volunteers will stand in places with traffic congestion, near traffic lights and pedestrian subways calling road users to 'Be patient, don't hurry!'. Mr. Babayev also announced a new cyber initiative calling young people to pay attention to road safety rules. Mr. Elmar Gasimov, Deputy Minister of Education highlighted the importance of road safety education and announced that starting from next year road safety classes will be the part of the compulsory school curricula. Speaking about activities planned for the week of observance he thanked the UN DPI Azerbaijan office for taking the lead, and especially for providing posters in the local language to promote key messages such as wearing seat-belts and avoiding drinking and driving, which will be disseminated to schools and other educational institutions. The Representative of the Ministry of Transport, Mr. Sabir Mirzeyev, said that the recent construction work on Azerbaijani roads and the building of several new bridges and pedestrian subways in Baku helped to ease the burden of traffic jams, as well as decreasing the risk of traffic accidents in the city. But there is more room for improvement and positive change to continue in the public transport system, said Mr. Mirzeyev. Focussing on the importance of emergency services as a part of the public health system in tackling road traffic injuries, Mr. Elsever Aghayev, Deputy Minister of Health, spoke about recent improvements such as new ambulance cars, modernised communication-control systems, and a reinforced medical supply. In short presentation of the IMC project 'Emergency Medicine Development Initiative in Azerbaijan," the coordinator Mr. Shirin Kazimov, highlighted the special component of the project - a public service programme that includes the implementation of interactive educational programs for schools and the production of public service announcements (PSA) for television and radio-shows to promote road safety. The main nation-wide TV and radio broadcasting stations highlighted various activities organised during the week, including a road safety class on 25 April for primary school students in the Baku City Extracurricular Activity Centre, which was attended by the UN DPI Representative.    Ms. Selimovic, together with representatives of the Baku State Traffic Police Department, engaged in a lively educative discussion with the children. "Garage" - a very popular musical youth programme on Public TV - chose road safety as a theme for their show on 26 April and invited a member of the UN DPI team to speak about the key messages of the week and call on young road users to wear seatbelts and helmets, avoid speeding and not drink and drive.    On 26-29 April, Baku also hosted a European Youth Forum meeting. In his opening remarks, Minister of Youth and Sport, Mr. Azad Rahimov referred to the First UN Global Road Safety Week. Responding to the UN DPI initiative the Ministry printed 8000 booklets on road safety for distribution among youth in Baku, Ganja, Sumgayit and other cities.      More than 600 posters promoting road safety were prepared by the UN DPI and WHO in the local language and distributed with the help of the Azerbaijani ministries of Internal Affairs, Youth & Sport and Education and posted in public places, as well as in youth entertainment and sport centres and schools. The UN Secretary-General's message was also quoted on various occasions by different media outlets. "…This First United Nations Global Road Safety Week - dedicated to young road users - is a platform for improving safety for the hundreds of millions of young people who travel the world's roads every day… Road safety will not happen by accident, and fortunately, there is a growing recognition that road traffic injuries can be prevented. And let us improve safety on the world's roads, for their sake and for ours."

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