GRSP teams with Ghana's front-line road safety ambassadors _

GRSP Ghana's on-going collaboration with police and transport officials in Ghana continued to bear fruit with a series of workshops and interactive training sessions designed to helping the country manage a wide range of road safety and policing challenges.

Most recently, GRSP senior advisor Mike Winnett and Jack Lewis, the Executive Secretary of GRSP Ghana, facilitated a workshop for roughly 30 officers in Ghana's Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) on November 9 at the Winneba Police Training College.

The workshop sessions were highly interactive, with participants often playing roles - of officers or offenders in diverse situations - or breaking into groups to discuss issues effecting their unit (police and driver knowledge of traffic laws, equipment needs, public relations, etc.).

The recent workshop came just as Mike Winnett delivered a 30-page report on the MTTU to the Assistant Commissioner of the Traffic police. The report was based largely on an intensive workshop with 70 police officers in Accra in April and it addressed key staffing, training, payment and public perception concerns.

At least two key GRSP recommendations are already being acted upon: That the MTTU become a dedicated unit (so that trained officers are not lost to other duties) and that Ghana's cabinet be asked to ratify the legislative instrument needed to enforce Ghana's 2004 Road Traffic Act.

These actions were just some outcomes from another significant road safety event in Ghana: the International Road Safety Conference in Accra, Nov. 4-5.

The conference marked the 10th Anniversary of the National Road Safety Commission and the Driver Vehicle Licensing Authority, both created by the Ghanian government by legislation in 1999

Winnett and GRSP CEO Andrew Pearce were invited to present papers at the gathering. Mike Winnett offered an overview of global road safety situation and prospects for adopting a safe systems approach to strengthen capacity for minimizing road traffic crashes. Andrew Pearce's paper focused on "Road Safety Financing - Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Funding."

GRSP Ghana hopes to continue collaborating the MTTU and the Ghanaian government to build up a systemic and comprehensive approach - particularly since police are critical front-line ambassadors for road safety in Ghana. "The police are key deliverers of road safety and GRSP has used its advocacy to good effect," said Winnett.