The new Twinning Project has been just launched in Baku

On the 3rd of March 2023 the Twinning project focused on increasing the road safety in Azerbaijan was launched in Baku. This topic gathered various stakeholders from Azerbaijan, Poland and Lithuania – countries involved in this initiative – during the launching event.

The project funded by the European Union will strengthen the capacities of the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of the Republic of Azerbaijan and other relevant stakeholders in applying good governance practices for safety management system in full alignment with the EU standards and best practices. This know-how will be shared within 38 missions by 57 various Experts from Poland and Lithuania.

The project is focused on providing Azerbaijani administration with the Polish and Lithuanian support in establishing the road safety management system based on 4 EU safety pillars: safe roads, safe vehicles, safe infrastructure and post-crash response in 5 areas of intervention: legislation, enforcement, education, technology and international regulatory support.

The meeting served as a great opportunity to get to know better the institutions involved in the Twinning Project and to present its scope and expected results.

In his speech, Minister of Digital Development and Transport of the Republic of Azerbaijan Rashad Nabiyev informed about the work done to enhance road safety and improve transport infrastructure as part of the socio-economic development strategy implemented by Mr. President Ilham Aliyev.

Rashad Nabiev added that in order to achieve progress in this direction, the “State Programme on Road Safety for 2019–2023” approved by Presidential Decree is being implemented.

The twinning project ‘Improving Road Safety in Azerbaijan’ which we presented today, actually includes a number of provisions of the State Programme. The project is of great importance in terms of improving management, coordination and addressing road safety issues in Azerbaijan. I thank the European Union for funding this important project, said Rashad Nabiyev.

Speeches were delivered by the beneficiary of the Twinning project, the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of the Republic of Azerbaijan, EU Member States Embassies, in particular, Embassy of the Republic of Poland and Republic of Lithuania.

Representatives of the Beneficiary Country main stakeholders, EU Member States authorities, EU Delegation to Azerbaijan, Twinning implementing partners, Centre for EU Transport Projects based in Poland – shared their overviews on project implementation, strengthening cooperation and common activities. The scope of the project was presented by the Resident Twinning Adviser and Experts from Poland and Lithuania.

It is worth emphasizing that Poland has achieved significant improvements in road safety. Over the past ten years, the number of fatalities on Polish roads has fallen by nearly 50%. In addition, due to the measures taken, Poland was among the five countries with the largest decrease in road fatalities in Europe in 2021. According to the European Commission’s data from February 2023, the largest decreases in road fatalities, by more than 30 percent compared to 2019, were recorded and Poland – underlined Mr. Andrzej Bittel, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of the Republic of Poland.

The Overall Objective of the Project is to contribute to the reduction of road crashes, especially ones resulting in death or severe health injuries and socio-economic damage. The Specific Objective of the Project is to improve legal and institutional capacities and staff competences of lead and participating public agencies and other stakeholders to better manage, coordinate and address traffic safety issues in Azerbaijan.

The significance of the project launched today goes beyond the borders of Azerbaijan and is important for all countries interested in transport and logistics cooperation with Azerbaijan. Poland is one of these countries, and the project we are inaugurating today is the best proof of this. I hope that the implementation of this project will contribute to the improvement of road safety in Azerbaijan, and thus will have a positive impact on the capacity of road transport routes running through Azerbaijan and the stability of transport. – said Mr. Rafał Poborski, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in Azerbaijan.

In today’s gathering, I would like to emphasize that CEUTP and all project partners are committed to provide best experience and contribution in the key road safety areas of interventions, i.e. legislation, technology, enforcement and education throughout all Safe System pillars. Road safety requires well-orchestrated actions from multiple stakeholders to make the overall system forgiving of mistakes we as humans will do – added Ms. Joanna Lech, Director of Centre for EU Transport Project.

CEUTP, the project leader, is a specialized agency subordinated to Ministry of Infrastructure of Poland and for more than 15 years responsible for implementation of countrywide programmes co-financed by the EU cohesion policy supporting development of transport infrastructure in Poland. CEUTP is acting not only as an institution responsible for financing but it also provides full support to the beneficiaries of transport projects and expertise and analytical support for the Ministries.

Team of experts from Poland and Lithuania brings all the necessary skills to assist the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of the Republic of Azerbaijan in establishing the proper road safety education program for schools, identify key skills required by all road safety actors and stakeholders and finally help you design and implement custom made road safety campaign. It will all be done to communicate major project goals deeply embedded in the road safety strategy for Azerbaijan. – said Mr. Justas Rašomavičius, Lithuanian transport safety administration, Member State Junior Partner Project Leader.

Twinning “Increasing road safety in Azerbaijan”, funded by the European Union. Project duration 24 months. Project launching event was organized in cooperation with the Beneficiary Country, Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan.