Bangladesh is observing United Nations (UN) Global Road Safety Week for the first time with the slogan “Save lives, speak up” aiming to create awareness for curbing road accidents.

Nazrul Islam, secretary of Road Transport and Highway Division, inaugurated the week-long programme on Manik Mia Avenue in Dhaka around 10:00 am today.

The fifth UN Global Road Safety Week-2019 will be observed across the country till May 12, with “Leadership for Road Safety” as its theme.

All agencies under the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry, road safety campaigners, leaders of road transport owners and workers took part in the inaugural ceremony.

While inaugurating the programme, Nazrul Islam said Bangladesh is observing the week for the first time in order to raise awareness about road safety.

"We all expect safe road and it is possible if we all work together,” the Road Transport and Highway Division secretary said.

Road safety campaigner Ilias Kanchan said, “We all are here to raise voice for safe roads. If we all can work like this, we will be able to prevent road accidents.”

PROGRAMMES FOR THE WEEK

The road transport and bridges ministry will hold a rally at Manik Mia Avenue on May 6 and organise a workshop for all stakeholders within the week, a ministry official said earlier.

Different agencies under the ministry, including Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, Roads and Highways Department and district administrations, will take initiatives to raise awareness on road safety.

Different educational institutions, NGOs, transport owners and workers will also hold similar programmes.

Meanwhile, World Health Organisation and its partners in February had already created a website for the road safety week.

The programme aims to generate a demand from the public for strong road safety leadership worldwide in order to help achieve SDG and other road safety targets, according to the WHO website.

The road safety week was observed in 2007, 2013, 2015 and 2017, it said.

DEATH TOLL FROM ROAD CRASHES IN BANGLADESH IN 2018

According to police, 2,635 people were killed in 2,609 road crashes last year.

The figures are significantly lower than that of two road-safety organisations but even with these numbers, it would be very difficult to achieve the SDG target, experts and road safety campaigners said.

Nirapad Sarak Chai said 4,439 people were killed in 3,103 road crashes last year while Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity said 7,221 people were killed in 5,514 road crashes.