EASST Annual Report 2021

This year we have celebrated the start of the new Decade of Action for Road Safety and seen many achievements across the region. We are so proud of our EASST Partners and the remarkable resilience, innovation, and commitment that they have demonstrated in this challenging year.

 

Indeed, 2021 has been another year in which we have continued to adapt in response to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. We also sadly lost our Patron, Max Mosley – a great champion for road safety and a great supporter of our work. His impact was felt across our many countries and projects. It is in his memory that we dedicate the achievements highlighted in this Annual Report.

 

We have been unable to meet in person, but our network seems more connected than ever. For the first time, our partners’ annual grant projects are all working towards a common goal as part of our work with the FIA Foundation Advocacy Hub. Across nine countries, we are advocating for safe school zones and low-speed streets. This work is bringing our partners together in a new way, enabling them to learn from and build upon each other’s successes.

 

We have also implemented several sub-regional projects, including our work to promote walking and cycling in Central Asia, as well as to encourage more accessible public transport systems across Moldova, Azerbaijan, and Belarus.

 

In partnership with the Safer Roads Foundation, we have completed two infrastructure projects in Bishkek and Dushanbe which are already having a massive impact, and we are looking forward to seeing more completed next year.

 

We have continued to work with Shell and Eni in Kazakhstan, and FedEx Express Europe in Ukraine, as well as working with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) across a number of areas from post-crash response to road safety engineering, and gender-sensitive transport planning.

 

This year we also welcomed the National Automobile Club of Uzbekistan (NACU) as an official EASST partner, and Dr Soames Job and Darren Lindsey to our Board of Trustees.

 

Looking forward to next year, we are excited to continue this spirit of cooperation. In particular, we are looking forward to partnering with the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia and the International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University (ISET) to host the Regional Eastern Partnership Road Safety Observatory (EaPRSO) funded by the European Commission—DG NEAR, under the umbrella of the World Bank support to the Eastern Partnership Transport Panel (EaP).

 

This is an exciting development for EASST and I am looking forward to the many opportunities it will bring to further achieve our goal to improve road safety in the region.

Lord Whitty, Chair of EASST