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 dailyencounters in Ethiopia. The paradox is that Ethiopia disproportionately bears the highest road traffic crasheswith the least number of vehicles. Nevertheless, a significant improvement has not been achieved in ensuringroad safety regardless of efforts made by the Ministry of Transport and Logistics (MoTL) and Road Safety andInsurance Fund Services (RSIFS), the national road safety lead agency. Lack of genuine coordination andcollaboration among the relevant stakeholders is a primary factor behind such a frustrating circumstance eventhough 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 thetransport 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. Thenon-governmental sector includes international agencies, CSOs, media, the private sector, and the largerpublic. 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 presentspolicy options and their implications for improving the road safety menace in Ethiopia.