From August 12 – 13, the Asia-Pacific Road Safety Observatory (APRSO), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank supported a Road Safety Workshop hosted by the Department of Transport in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Road safety is a key focus in PNG, where a life is lost on the roads on average every eight hours, with an economic toll estimated to be 5% of GDP each year.

The workshop was opened by the Secretary of Transport Mathew Wowoni, and hosted participants from a range of key agencies including:

• Department of Transport
• Road Traffic Authority
• PNG Royal Constabulary
• Department of Lands and Physical Planning
• St Johns Ambulance
• National Capital District Commission

As a member country of APRSO, PNG hosted an expert delegation in May to conduct a Safe System Maturity Assessment and Crash Data Review, and the August workshop focused on discussing and adopting key findings of these activities.

Key areas of focus of the discussions and supporting capacity building included safe road infrastructure, safer speeds, behavior change, and improving data collection and analysis. These sessions were led by a team including:

• Dr. Soames Job, APRSO expert
• Mr. Masayoshi Ono, ADB
• Ms. Tawia Addo-Ashong, World Bank
• Mr. Martin Small, World Bank consultant

Following the workshop, APRSO and ADB will work to finalise the key reports and collaborate with government agencies to identify and tailor technical assistance to support future road safety activities.

The grant fund for the workshop was received from the Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific (JFPR) financed by the Government of Japan through the ADB.