Chariots of Destiny at the First Global Ministerial Conference on
Road Safety in Moscow 
Historically, winter expeditions to Moscow have been a recipe for disaster. Formidable campaigners such as Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler have floundered against Russia's fearsome winter and the steely resolve of Muscovites. But when more than a thousand high-level representatives of governments including Ministers of Health, Transport, Interior, Education, Foreign Affairs and others; representatives of United Nations agencies; leaders from nongovernmental and civil society organizations; representatives from private companies; and many other of the world's leading road safety experts from nearly 140 countries attended the first-ever Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Moscow from 18 – 20 November, 2009, the mood was optimistic rather than defeatist.
Speaking at the opening plenary session, the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, made an unprecedented high level call for action on what he emphasised represents a worldwide growing global crisis of road deaths. Addressing Ministers from more than 70 governments in a packed auditorium with over 1,500 delegates, President Medvedev called for a level of international action on road safety to match other major global issues. He also supported the call for a Decade of Action for Road Safety, a proposal first put forward by the Make Roads Safe campaign.
The President was joined on the high level panel by Lord Robertson, Chairman of the Make Roads Safe campaign, as well as Russian Federation Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev; Ugandan Transport Minister John Nasasira; Anarfi Asamoa-Baah, Deputy Director General of WHO; World Bank Transport Director Jamal Saghir; and Jan Kubis, Executive Secretary UN Commission for Europe. Make Roads Safe global ambassador Michelle Yeoh also delivered an address to the Opening Session of the summit, as did Casey Marenge, Executive Director of the Chariots of Destiny Organization.
Casey was greatly honored to be amongst the key speakers at this historic event. Casey made a statement on behalf of road crash victims and their families all across the world when she passionately urged the participants to “look beyond this conference and take action”.
The participants rose to the occasion. The Global Ministerial Meeting issued a call for urgent action and increased resources to tackle the growing humanitarian crisis on the roads of developing countries. They shared ideas and insights and agreed to mount a concerted fight back against the road death epidemic. Top of the agenda at the conference was the call to support a 'UN Decade of Action for Road Safety', first proposed by the Make Roads Safe campaign led by the FIA Foundation.
Kenya was also well represented by a high powered delegation from road safety stakeholders, senior officials of Automobile Association of Kenya and the government led by Kenya’s Minister for Transport – Hon. Chirau Ali Mwakwere, Minister for Roads – Hon. Franklin Bett, Assistant Minister for Roads, Hon. Dr. Wilfred G. Machage, Permanent Secretaries from the two Ministries of Transport and Roads, the Chief Executive Officer for Kenya Roads Board Mr. F.N. Nyangaga and the Kenya Police Traffic Comandant Joseph Ole Tito.
During the Ministerial Conference, plenary presentations and panel discussions addressed ideas for actions to be taken during such a Decade. The Chariots of Destiny team that accompanied Casey to Moscow including Stanley Marenge and Lucy Marenge took time to participate actively in the various discussions that were held in other meeting rooms within the conference specifically the meeting of Global NGOs on Road Safety working under the aegis of World Health Organization. Representatives from about 40 international road safety NGOs convened to discuss amongst other issues coming together to establish an international NGO to advocate for road safety.
The Ministerial Meeting adopted the 'Moscow Declaration' on the final day, calling for a firm and substantial global commitment to curb what is not only a humanitarian emergency, but also a sustainable development problem. The overall message coming out of Moscow was clear: official inattention toward road accidents should be ended, that the public and private sectors should commit funds to fight them, that developing countries should do far more to acknowledge the problem, and that making roads safe won't break the bank. With political will, public awareness and proper remedial tools, we can avert the carnage.
In a closing speech to the Ministerial Conference, Paul Clark, UK MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport said that even during the two days of the summit more than 7000 people had died on the roads. “All too often it is the mothers of child victims who bear the brunt of road collisions, as was so vividly illustrated by brave Casey Marenge from Nairobi. This cannot be right. This can and must be prevented”, he said. “We must go from here determined to make a difference. We are the people to act. And this is the time for action”.
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