During their visit, Jean Todt and Hartwig Schafer underscored the urgency of action on road safety to save lives and boost economic growth.

The FIA Club NASA organised a high-level interaction programme on ‘Road Safety and Sustainable Mobility’, a platform to draw a path forward on national road safety, and establish synergies between international organisations and local stakeholders.

A report on a decade of road safety in Nepal was also made public during the programme. Similarly, during the occasion, Laxmi Gautam of the non-profit organisation Laxmi Pratisthan, was awarded the ‘National Road Safety Award 2075’.

At the time of the official visit, Jean Todt and Hartwig Schafer also met with Honorable Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Mr. Raghubir Mahaseth, and with senior officials at the Ministry and Road Safety Council. The drafting of the Road Safety Bill, the creation of the National Road Safety Council, and updating of the Road Safety Action Plan were recognised as important progress being made on Nepal’s Road Safety Agenda. 

Nepal has one of the highest rates of road deaths in the region, with roughly 16 road deaths per 100,000 people a year. 

“The geographic landscape of Nepal makes its challenges special”, stated Jean Todt, “however, we know the basic foundations that need to be in place to effectively manage road safety everywhere: strong governance, safe infrastructure, good road user behaviour, safe vehicles, and effective post-crash care.”

“I encourage Nepal to join and fully implement the key UN road safety conventions, which help countries address the major causes of road crashes through a strong regulatory framework.”