First Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety

On 19-20 November 2009 the Government of the Russian Federation hosted the First Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety. Requested by the UN General Assembly, the event represented a historic opportunity to make progress on tackling a leading cause of death and disability. As many as 1500 participants including ministers; representatives of UN agencies, civil society organizations and private companies attended the meeting which was opened by President Dmitry Medvedev. Participants called for action to address the large and growing global impact of road traffic crashes; reviewed progress on implementation of the World report on road traffic injury prevention; and shared information and good practices on road safety. The meeting culminated with the adoption of the Moscow Declaration which invites the UN General Assembly to declare a Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020.