iRAP warmly congratulates Dr Soames Job on his retirement as Head of the Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF) of the World Bank.

iRAP CEO Rob McInerney said Dr Job made a significant impact to global road safety during his 6 years at GRSF.

“Soames has been a passionate road safety advocate and committed leader who has helped save thousands of lives worldwide.

“Under his stewardship, the World Bank Environmental and Social Safeguards have been shaped to appropriately consider the road trauma impacts throughout the project life of World Bank investments.  The GRSF team has grown to be a trusted and high-impact team of experts supporting improved road safety outcomes worldwide.

“Soames has also been an active member of the iRAP Global Policy Advisory Committee (GPAC) ensuring the charity meets the needs of the many global road safety partners worldwide.” Mr McInerney said.

iRAP’s partnership with the World Bank Global Road Safety Facility extends for more than 15 years when the original EuroRAP, AusRAP and usRAP protocols were expanded to meet the needs of low and middle-income countries with the donor support of the FIA Foundation.

In recent years the iRAP and World Bank partnerships have included many life-saving innovations including the technical development of the iRAP Toolkit and Star Rating for Designs Tool, as well as enhancement of the DRIVER tool for crash data mapping and the development of the World Bank Country Profiles.  The GRSF has been an active supporter of the annual iRAP Innovation Workshops.

Many World Bank road safety related projects and road upgrades have been successfully delivered during Dr Job’s time at the World Bank, including the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS), the Tanzania Ten Steps for Safer Road Infrastructure partnership with the UN Road Safety Fund, IRF and PIARC, as well as a wide-range of capacity building and knowledge partnerships in LMIC countries worldwide.

“This road safety leadership of the World Bank is critical to ensure sustainable development outcomes are met and a legacy of safer roads and journeys for all road users is delivered.  Soames’s leadership, and the work of the GRSF team, has been key to that success and his impact will continue to make a life-saving difference in the years to come,” Mr McInerney said.

Read the GRSF’s Farewell to Soames “Saying Au Revoir to a Road Safety Champion: Soames Job“.