On June 3, the Asia-Pacific Road Safety Observatory (APRSO) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) hosted a road safety workshop in Yerevan, Armenia. The workshop, titled 'Towards a Safe System Approach in Armenia', brought together 35 participants from Government, civil society organizations and other key stakeholders, to address critical road safety challenges and opportunities in the country. 

Building upon the strong road safety work of the Government of Armenia, which is an APRSO member, the workshop was part of a joint APRSO and ADB mission in Armenia to tackle critical road safety issues and support the ADB’s Resilient and Inclusive Road Sector Improvement Project II. The mission included a core focus on strengthening data management and the conducting of a Safe System Maturity Assessment, utilizes the global best practice tool developed by ADB to provide an assessment of country-level progress in adoption of the Safe System approach for road safety.

The Road Safety Workshop was specifically designed to provide a platform to:

• Consider the current road safety issues facing Armenia and the importance of a Safe Systems approach.
• Identify areas for improvement and collaboratively consider steps to implement these.
• Strengthen partnerships among government agencies, international organizations, and other stakeholders involved in road safety initiatives.

The workshop was attended by a group of representatives with direct influence on road safety in the country. Participants were drawn from the following agencies:

• Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure
• Yerevan Municipality
• Ministry of Internal Affairs
• Ministry of Health
• Ambulance Service
• Armenia Automobile Federation
• Road Department Fund
• National Road Safety Council
• State Urban Committee
• Motor Insurer's Bureau
• World Bank

During the workshop, participants engaged in expert presentations, and a series of dedicated work sessions, which focused on road and roadside safety infrastructure, road safety management, coordination, and leadership, speed management and safer road users. These discussions built upon a series of meetings held with relevant agencies in Armenia for the Safe System Maturity Assessment. 

The workshop was facilitated by an expert team, including Senior Road Safety Management Specialist Dr. Soames Job (APRSO), Senior Transport Specialist and Road Safety Lead for ADB Ms. Priti Gautam, Senior Transport Specialist for ADB Mr. Michael Anyala, and Executive Director of the National Road Safety Council of Armenia Mr. Poghos Shahinyan. Senior Road Safety Engineer for iRAP Mr. Jigesh Bhavsar also joined the workshop remotely, and iRAP is playing an active role in the Resilient and Inclusive Road Road Sector Improvement Project II to help support a strong focus on safety.

Road Safety Department Head for the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure and APRSO Focal for Armenia Ms. Arevhat Poghosyan was also actively engaged during the workshop, and was critical in ensuring that key agencies actively engaged in the workshop and the meetings relating to the Safe System Maturity Assessment. 

In addition, the workshop also benefitted from contributions from the Deputy Minister, Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia, Mr. Armen Simonyan, and Country Operations Head for ADB Mr. Luke Fochtman. 

Following the workshop, APRSO and ADB will remain directly engaged with key agencies on next steps to ensure that there is a clear pathway to increased and sustained action and investment in road safety moving forward.