By Chemtai Kirui
Mombasa, Kenya – Mombasa County Governor Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir hosted Vital Strategies Road Safety Director Sylviane Ratte and Africa Deputy Director Daniel Chekol in a meeting to re-affirm their commitment to promoting road safety in Mombasa City. Vital Strategies is an implementing partner of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS).
In June 2022, Mombasa County joined the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Road Safety to work with technical partners on speed management, police enforcement, policy-making, public education, and road infrastructure improvements. Governor Nassir expressed appreciation for the support from development partners like Bloomberg Philanthropies, which enables the county to fulfill its constitutional duty of providing safe and secure mobility for its growing population.
Mombasa City is one of 27 cities from around the world participating in the 2020-2025 phase of BIGRS. This phase has a focus on speed management, as speed is a leading cause of road accidents worldwide. BIGRS will provide technical support to Mombasa County on data collection and analysis, planning, monitoring, and evaluation.
“Daily activities such as traveling should not pose a risk to lives,” said Sylviane Ratte, Vital Strategies Road Safety Director. “Traffic crashes cause 1.3 million deaths annually, and we need to take action to prevent them. The BIGRS consortium of road safety experts is here to support Mombasa City with the resources to implement effective road safety measures.”
“Road safety is a critical issue in Mombasa City,” added Governor Nassir, “and we are committed to working with BIGRS to implement proven strategies that will save lives.” BIGRS will monitor the progress and impact of the initiative in Mombasa County on key metrics, including crashes, injuries, and fatalities.
Other participating BIGRS locations in Africa include Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Kampala, Uganda; and Accra and Kumasi, Ghana, forming a network of leaders working to improve road safety with support from the world’s leading experts.