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UN General Assembly adopts landmark road safety pledge despite US rejection

UNITED NATIONS: The UN General Assembly closed its first ever High-level Meeting on road safety on Tuesday by adopting a sweeping new declaration aimed at halving road deaths by 2030 – over the sole objection of the United States.

The declaration passed by a recorded vote of 162 in favour to one against, with no abstentions.

It commits governments to strengthen national road safety systems, upgrade vehicle and infrastructure standards, and adopt the ‘Safe System’ approach, which designs roads and vehicles to survive the mistakes drivers inevitably make.

The US delegate, Dan Negrea, accused the declaration of “mandate creep that has eroded the credibility of this institution,” objecting to provisions linking road safety with climate and environmental policy.

“Road safety is a practical matter of engineering, sober driving and personal responsibility,” he said. It “should not be used as a backdoor vehicle to enforce global climate pacts and top-down environmental restrictions on freedom of mobility.”

Other countries backed the declaration while marking their own reservations.

Argentina stressed its sovereign right to implement it according to national law, while separately reserving its position on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) role. Paraguay underlined that the follow-up process, like the declaration itself, is voluntary and non-binding.

Opening the meeting, General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock addressed the question she said many people ask: why does the UN spend its time on road safety when wars and crises dominate the agenda?

The answer, she said, is scale. Road crashes kill more than 1.2 million people a year and injure some 50 million more – more, she noted, than are killed in direct conflict, murdered, or die of malaria.

“Since I began speaking,” she told delegates, several more families had already received news that would change their lives forever.

She asked delegates to think of the everyday journeys that bring people to work, school or home – “whether you came by car, by bike or simply walked” to UN Headquarters, all had taken part in “the complex choreography of New York’s traffic system.”

The issue is personal for her too: her aunt was killed by a tram, a loss whose legacy, she said, “lingered”, sending “never-ending ripples of devastation” through the family.

New WHO data released alongside the declaration show the global road death rate fell 21 per cent between 2011 and 2025, even as more than a billion vehicles were added to the world’s roads.

Still, 1.16 million people died in crashes in 2025, and road injuries remain the leading killer of children and young people aged 5 to 29.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus opened his remarks by asking delegates who had been in a crash or had lost or known someone killed or injured in one, to stand. “I think almost all of us,” he said. “All road deaths are preventable and none are acceptable.”

The gains are wildly uneven. Deaths fell 36 per cent in Europe and 15 per cent in the Western Pacific, but just two per cent in South-East Asia; they were flat in the Americas and up 17 per cent in Africa.

Motorcyclists, whose numbers have more than tripled since 2011, now account for nearly a third of all road deaths – though WHO says a certified helmet cuts the risk of dying more than sixfold.

As the UN’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, Jean Todt, put it: “Business as usual is a business of death.”

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Health minister orders probe into Sindh MDCAT complaints

ISLAMABAD:Federal Minister for Health Syed Mustafa Kamal has taken notice of alleged irregularities in the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) held in Sindh and ordered a comprehensive inquiry into the complaints.

According to official sources, the minister directed a five-member committee, including the President of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), to conduct a transparent investigation and submit its report within 15 days.

The committee has been tasked with examining the complaints and reviewing the circumstances surrounding the alleged irregularities during the examination, sources said.

The minister directed the committee to complete the inquiry within the stipulated timeframe and present its findings for further action in accordance with the applicable rules.

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CDA chairman directs faster work on Expressway East project

ISLAMABAD: Capital Development Authority (CDA) Chairman Sohail Ashraf has directed officials to accelerate work on the Islamabad Expressway Service Road East project while ensuring strict compliance with approved designs and construction standards.

During an inspection of the project on Saturday, the chairman reviewed progress and was briefed on ongoing works and the next phase of development.

He directed the project director and relevant departments to maintain continuous field monitoring and quality control and ensure effective traffic management to minimise inconvenience to commuters.

The chairman described the Expressway East project as an important infrastructure scheme for improving connectivity, traffic flow and road capacity in the capital. He also stressed that construction quality should not be compromised in efforts to meet the project timeline.

During the visit, he was also briefed on an ongoing enforcement operation against unauthorised and illegal construction along the Islamabad Expressway.

According to the CDA, 377 buildings have been identified for action, including 281 commercial structures. So far, 58 buildings have been sealed, while 124 buildings between Sohan and Khanna bridges have been marked for demolition.

The authority said Rs234.685 million had been recovered through land-use conversion, unauthorised construction and de-sealing charges. Around Rs3 billion remained recoverable under applicable regulations in connection with land-use conversion and violations relating to unauthorised construction, setbacks, floor area ratio and covered area.

The chairman directed the relevant departments to ensure strict enforcement of building-control and land-use regulations, particularly mandatory fire-safety requirements.

The enforcement operation is being conducted by the CDA’s Building Control Section and Enforcement Directorate in coordination with the district administration and Islamabad police.

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GB ministers call on Governor Kundi

PESHAWAR: Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Faisal Karim Kundi on Saturday held a meeting with a delegation of Gilgit-Baltistan ministers at the Governor’s House here and discussed the country’s political situation and other matters of mutual interest.

The delegation comprised Gilgit-Baltistan Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Zulfiqar Ali Murad, Minister for Health Iqbal Hassan and Minister for Education Aman Ali Ameer.

During the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on the prevailing political situation in the country and various issues of mutual interest. They also discussed the recent elections in Gilgit-Baltistan and the Pakistan Peoples Party’s success in the polls.

The visiting ministers were taken on a tour of the Governor’s House. Governor Kundi presented them with traditional shawls and caps.