Over 200 nominated road safety stakeholders from Tanzania received specialist road safety training on 22-23 September as part of the Ten Step Plan project currently underway in the country. This was the first of a three courses training programme that will explore road safety engineering, iRAP assessments, and road safety audits.

The group of consultants and engineers are drawn from road development agencies, the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communications, road safety NGOs, financing organisations, and academic institutions were selected by the project Steering Committee and Working Groups. Over the past months, three working groups have been in fact set up within the Ten Step Project to work on respectively: a new infrastructure road safety strategy and action plan; a revision of geometric road design standards; and the establishment of a national road assessment programme.

Developed in collaboration with global road safety and engineering experts, the 2-day course covered crash causation, the fundamental principles of road safety engineering based on a Safe System Approach, speed management, the economics of road safety, and the essential measures of a well-functioning road infrastructure safety management system, among others.

The Ten Step training programme aims to address skill gaps and develop participant skills to deliver road safety projects that prioritise the safety of all road users and eliminate high-risk roads in the country. The courses will be delivered as a mix of classroom-based and virtual self-paced sessions, as well as practical on-the-job training.

The Ten Step Pilot Project, jointly funded by the United Nations Road Safety Fund (UNRSF) and the Global Road Safety Facility of the World Bank (GRSF), brings together the Government of Tanzania through the Ministry of Works, TANROADS , and Tanzania Rural and Urban Roads Agency (TARURA), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), World Bank, International Road Federation (IRF), World Road Association (PIARC), International Road Assessment Program (iRAP), Tanzania Road Federation (TARA), research institutions, NGOs and industry stakeholders.

Tanzania is the first country to pilot the Ten Step Plan for Safer Road Infrastructure It is designed to provide countries with a proven step-by-step process to build national capacity for safer road infrastructure and to help them achieve UN targets 3 and 4. It is expected more countries will follow, learning from Tanzania’s experience.