Boosting partnership in Morocco
In March of this year, the Global Road Safety Partnership set foot in Morocco. May 2012 was the official kick-off, paving the way for the implementation of the Global Road Safety Initiative (GRSI) in the cities of Tangier and Mohamedia (Casablanca), thanks to the support of Renault and Total.
What exactly is being implemented in these two cities? Something called the Proactive Partnership Strategy (PPS). The enormous success of the PPS in Brazil has encouraged partners to replicate it in other parts of the world – including Morocco.
Samar Abouraad, GRSP Regional Manager for the Middle East and North Africa visited Morocco from May 8-9, facilitating two multi-disciplinary meetings each city. Stakeholders sat together and discussed means of improving road safety through partnership efforts.
In Tangier, the preparation meetings included Mohamad Hasad, the Wali (or Mayor) of Tangier, Mohamed Allal from the Ministry of Equipment and Transport, the city police chief, a representative from the Gendarmerie Royale, Michel Faivre Duboz, Managing Director of Renault, Taja Maad, Public Affairs Director at Renault Group Morocco,as well as various officials from Wilaya district and the police. Mr. Allal provided an overview on the state of road safety in Tangier, explaining that despite the fact crashes, fatalities and injuries are decreasing in the urban areas of Tangier, it is unfortunately not the case for the inter-urban and rural roads.
Meanwhile in Mohammedia, an industrial town, Eric Gosse, General Director of Total,Dounia Boustani, head of Human Resources from Total, Mrs. Kadija Jilal representative of the Wali district, identified that the main problem for road safety centres on heavy vehicles and fleets, specifically in parking areas, intersections, and collisions with other vehicles. Pedestrian safety is also at stake.
“Both meetings were extremely fruitful,” explained Abouraad. “All parties are quite enthusiastic, and they have expressed their readiness to cooperate, which makes the project quite promising. Because it is only with a solid partnership with local communities that we will be able to achieve tangible and sustainable results”, she emphasized.
In addition to support from Renault and Total, the programmes in Morocco also benefit from EU funds, which are part of the GRSP project, “EuroMed Transport: Support to the MENA Road Safety Programme”.
“It would be great if these three programmes can align” added Abouraad. “Either ways it is a win-win situation for everyone”, she noted.
From now through September, all stakeholders will focus on supporting the cities to appoint a local coordinator, and form a committee representing all concerned stakeholders. A review to identify risk factors and projects that could be part of the PPS will also be conducted.
For more information please contact Samar Abouraad at samar.abouraad@ifrc.org
