A Call for Stakeholders’ Genuine, Planned and Practical Collaboration for Road Safety Improvement in Ethiopia

Abstract

Loss of lives and property to mass casualty caused by road traffic crashes (RTCs) have become nearly daily
encounters in Ethiopia. The paradox is that Ethiopia disproportionately bears the highest road traffic crashes
with the least number of vehicles. Nevertheless, a significant improvement has not been achieved in ensuring
road safety regardless of efforts made by the Ministry of Transport and Logistics (MoTL) and Road Safety and
Insurance Fund Services (RSIFS), the national road safety lead agency. Lack of genuine coordination and
collaboration among the relevant stakeholders is a primary factor behind such a frustrating circumstance even
though there are other multiple reasons. Hence, the functional coordination and collaboration between 
government and non-government stakeholders is crucial to improving road safety problems as the nature of the
transport sector is complex. The government sector includes the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education,
Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Justice and Police Commission, and government development agencies. The
non-governmental sector includes international agencies, CSOs, media, the private sector, and the larger
public. Genuine collaboration among these stakeholders is lacking in Ethiopia which this policy brief calls for.
Thus, this policy brief highlights key study findings and recommendations pertinent to the issue, and presents
policy options and their implications for improving the road safety menace in Ethiopia.