AXA, IFC and the World Bank to promote road safety especially in low to middle income countries

• Road traffic injuries are a global public health and development problem, killing over 1.2 million people per year and injuring 20-50 million more, according to the World Bank and the World Health Organization
• AXA, IFC and the World Bank are co-organizing a key panel composed of senior insurance executives and policymakers during the 2^nd Global High Level Conference on Road Safety, that starts today in Brasilia, to discuss the role of insurance in promoting road safety especially in low to middle income countries
• A Joint Statement of participating insurance firms in the Insurance and Road Safety Panel at the 2nd High Level Conference on Road Safety, Brasilia 2015 will be published following the panel
• Promoting road safety is crucial for AXA, as it plays a role across the whole value chain : from prevention and education to better protecting clients from road risks and researching those risks to always meet clients’ needs and their evolutions

PARIS, 23-11-2015 — /EuropaWire/ — Road traffic injuries are a global public health and development problem, killing over 1.2 million people per year and injuring 20-50 million more, according to the World Bank and the World Health Organization. Without appropriate action, these numbers will rise dramatically, particularly in low and middle income countries. This has an enormous economic impact, costing the countries 1 to 5 percent of their GDP every year.

It is within this context that the “2 nd Global High Level Conference on Road Safety: Time for results” was kicked off yesterday in Brasilia, bringing together over 1,500 participants from 150 countries. It is a unique moment for United Nations (UN) member states to accelerate the momentum around the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety, and the commitments to the Road Safety Targets in the UN Sustainable Development Goals to halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road accidents by 2020.

With a wealth of knowledge and experience in gathering and analyzing data on road traffic accidents, the insurance industry has developed public-private partnerships to help build road safety institutions (Road Safety Agency, Guarantee funds, etc.) while also contributing to road safety education, reducing the economic costs of road deaths, improving the post-crash care for families and relatives.

That is why AXA, IFC and the World Bank are co-organizing a key panel composed of senior insurance executives and policymakers. A fundamental goal of the UN Decade is to support and implement the growth of appropriate road user insurance systems. The record of implementation of 3rd party insurance schemes in low and middle income countries for road safety remains mixed, and has not advanced as quickly as other areas since the Decade of Action began.

The goal of the panel is also for the insurance sector to discuss, along with senior officials from developing countries and the World Bank and IFC, the critical issues surrounding the role of the insurance industry in enhancing road safety and helping achieve the UN road safety targets. Participants will include:

• Jean-Laurent Granier, Member of the AXA Management Committee, CEO of Global P&C
• Francis Meja, Executive Director of the Kenya National Transport Safety Authority
• Andrew Bradley, President of the Global Road Safety Partnership
• Karla Gonzalez-Carvajal, manager at World Bank and former Minister for Transport of Costa Rica
• Rodrigo Belloube, CEO of Munich Re Brazil
• Eduardo Dal Ri, Vice President of Auto Insurance at SulAmerica.
• Jesús Monclus, Director of Road Safety at the MAPFRE foundation
• Serap Gonulal, financial sector expert at the World Bank

The panel will be followed by a Q&A with the public. Following the panel, the participating insurance firms will issue a joint statement confirming their commitment to the success of the UN Decade of Action and the Road Safety targets, and highlighting the key role of the insurance industry in supporting their achievement.

This panel is an extension of a successful collaboration on road safety initiated last year in collaboration with IFC and the World Bank, leveraging the expertise of both organizations to develop innovative approaches that enhance road safety and strengthen private sector engagement. The partnership engaged in the successful piloting of a Road Safety Hackathon in Kerala, India, which attracted close to 200 IT professionals, and generated innovative ideas to respond to challenges specific to the local road traffic situation.

AXA closely works with the World Bank’s Global Road Safety Facility, a global partnership program administered by the World Bank that was established in 2006 with a mission to help address the growing crisis of road traffic deaths and injuries in developing countries. The Facility provides funding, knowledge, and technical assistance that enhances work in the transport sector and leverages road safety investments.

“We are very proud to organize this panel with the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank. By leveraging on our knowledge and expertise as well as on our financial and human assets, AXA aims to improve road Safety in emerging markets. In recent years, AXA has been very supportive of numerous initiatives around road safety prevention including engaging institutional relations with authorities, raising awareness and educating the most sensitive public, supporting studies and researches on the topic, improving customers relationship and designing dedicated products”, comments Jean-Laurent Granier, Chief Executive Officer of the Mediterranean and Latin America Region business unit, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of AXA Global P&C.

Dimitris Tsitsiragos, IFC Vice President, added: “The IFC-World Bank-AXA partnership helps catalyze the positive development role of insurance, which includes crowding in ideas and investments that can contribute to safer roads and economic benefits for people, governments and companies alike.”

More info available here: http://www.roadsafetybrazil.com.br/en

The World Bank Group: The World Bank Group, the largest financier of development projects around the world, supports developing countries’ efforts to reduce poverty and boost shared prosperity. It provides lending, technical assistance and advisory services to a variety of stakeholders, including the private sector. For more information, please visit: www.worldbank.org, www.ifc.org.

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