There are still limited seats available for the National Road Safety Symposium, which will address road safety challenges in Botswana under the theme, ‘Effective Partnerships for Road Safety’ on 28-29 October 2015 at the Gaborone International Convention Centre, Gaborone, Botswana.

Part of the UN ‘Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020’, the Botswana Ministry of Transport and Communication believes that this initiative will ensure that there is action and commitment towards finding solutions to the problems of road crashes in Botswana, thus ensuring full compliance to the effective implementation of the UN global plan.

The symposium will address the five pillars of the UN Decade of Road Safety – Safer Traffic Management, Safer Roads, Safer Vehicles, Safer Road User Behaviour and Post Crash Response. It aims to find ways that private and public organisations and citizens can contribute to the improvement of road safety within Botswana, with the ultimate objective of the reduction of road accidents by 50% by 2020.

The symposium is aimed at high-level government officials, the private and public sector executives, senior management, corporate social responsibility managers and safety managers from across a wide section of industry. Fellow SADC members are welcome to attend.

International speaker
Australian Road Safety Foundation CEO, Russell White, will address the symposium on both days. White is a global speaker and widely regarded as one of Australia’s leading road safety advocates. He is a regular media commentator on road safety issues and contributes written articles for several leading publications. He addressed an International Traffic Safety Conference in Canada, earlier this year and he will add a valuable perspective to the issues of road safety in large, unpopulated countries.

The first day of the symposium will introduce the delegates to the five pillars and allow discussion to be prepared for day two, where delegates will identify and join the pillar workshops most suited to them. Within each Pillar, stakeholders will discuss key issues/challenges to be addressed and the ways and means to make a significant difference and support road safety initiatives within Botswana. The conference concludes with a summing up of the workshops and decisions on the way forward.

Stakeholders
The Botswana Police Service, Debswana Diamond Company, Department of Road Transport and Safety, G4 Consulting Engineers, the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund, Premiere, SSI Botswana, the UN and the World Health Organization join the Ministry as stakeholders.