Lord Robertson discusses road safety with World Bank President

Lord Robertson, Chairman of the Commission for Global Road Safety, has met with Robert Zoellick, the President of the World Bank, to discuss the global road safety agenda.

The meeting, at the Bank's Washington D.C. headquarters, was an opportunity to update Mr Zoellick on the Make Roads Safe campaign's efforts to encourage the international community to give more attention to road safety. Mr Zoellick agreed to encourage his counterparts at the regional development banks to make road safety a priority in their funding of road infrastructure projects. The World Bank and the regional development banks together commit around $4 billion a year in lending for road building and 'upgrading'.

Lord Robertson and Mr Zoellick also reviewed the progress of the World Bank's Global Road Safety Facility, which is funded by the Bank, the Australian, Dutch and Swedish governments, and the FIA Foundation. Turning their attention to the forthcoming Moscow Ministerial on road safety, Lord Robertson invited Mr Zoellick to attend and stressed the importance of participation by high-level delegations from the World Bank and other key international institutions.

Also participating in the meeting were the World Bank's Vice President for Sustainable Development, Katherine Sierra; Jamal Saghir, the World Bank's Director of Energy, Transport, and Water; and Bella Dinh Zarr, North America Director of the Make Roads Safe Campaign.