iRAP in partnership with the World Bank, has recently delivered first online training to road safety engineers and infrastructure safety decision makers in Burkina Faso and Niger, Africa.

The project is a first for capacity building in francophone speaking countries and has supported the development of Star Rating Essentials training materials in the new language of French.

Road crashes claim the lives of 30 people each day in Niger and 16 in Burkina Faso every day.

With a focus on the Road Safety Agency (ONASER) in Burkina Faso and the Road Safety Agency (ANISER) in Niger, the iRAP training was part of a wider road safety training programme delivered by multiple partners including independent road safety expert Mustapha Azzouzi and Craig Milligan from Fireseeds North Infrastructure (FNI).

As a result of the project, the iRAP Star Rating Essentials 5-part online series is now available in French for anyone to undertake at their own pace.

The World Bank has a strong engagement in the transport sector in Burkina Faso – including urban, road infrastructure, and trade facilitation related projects – with a portfolio of approximately USD $205 million IDA financing. The Government of Burkina Faso (GoBF) is committed to improving road safety in the country and the lead National Road Safety Agency (Office National de la Sécurité Routière – ONASER) was created in 2008.

In Niger, the Bank is implementing a Rural Mobility and Connectivity Project, which aims to improve and sustain road access of farming communities to production sites, markets and basic social services in selected areas of Dosso, Tahoua, Maradi, and Zinder.

This project aligns to the World Bank’s desire to support the capacity of road safety agencies to be able to prepare projects focused on enhancing infrastructure safety.

According to iRAP’s Vaccines Big Data Tool (https://www.vaccinesforroads.org/irap-big-data-tool/) the Business Case for Safer Roads for both countries is:

Header image source: Freeimages Silviadg-LAND