Celebrating people-friendly streets in Kenya, Ethiopia and Afghanistan

Nairobi, 13 June 2023-- To mark the  7th UN Global Road Safety Week UN-Habitat in collaboration with local partners, and funding from the United Nations Road Safety Fund, celebrated road safety initiatives in the cities of Nakuru and Mombasa in Kenya, Addis Ababa in Ethiopia as well as Kabul in Afghanistan.

In Mombasa, in collaboration with the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP),  Bloomberg Philanthropies, Advanced Road Users Safety Institute Limited (ARUSi), Jaffrey Academy and the County Government of Mombasa a road safety workshop was held to emphasize on creating safe school zones and routes to school for improving the access to education and ensuring a community safe for children. The street design workshop was followed by a street audit in collaboration with School Children to assess the “hot spots” of road safety risks in the school surrounding. With the help of “traffic zebras”, the messages were taken onto the roads where motorized road users were informed about the needs of school going children and slower speeds. 

In Nakuru, after a training on complete street designs, ‘street artists’ tested the design ideas and exhibited colourful crosswalk paintings to encourage the road users to rethink safety for pedestrians and cyclists. Building upon the extensive commitment by the Nakuru County Government over the previous years to improve the Non-Motorized Transport (NMT) infrastructure and promote walking and cycling, the event paved the way for continued cooperation among the participating organisations to fostering and scaling up positive changes towards a safer and sustainable city.

In Ethiopia, UN-Habitat supported “Cycle Techyalesh” - a free women’s bicycle school in Addis Abeba, in collaboration with the local advocacy organisations Egre Menged Impact and Lem Ketema. The first of its kind in Ethiopia, Cycle Techyalesh is a collective space for women to learn to cycle, build confidence, and take back the streets. The name Cycle Techyalesh (ትችያለሽ) is an Amharic word which means “you (female conjugation) can ride a bicycle” and aims to empower Ethiopian women in Addis Abeba through cycling.

The second cohort was supported in May 2023 as part of the global celebrations, when 15 women learned to cycle. The training has been a big success; although the registration for Cycle Techyalesh has not been publicized, more than 80 women have already registered for the future cohorts through word of mouth, indicating the high demand and need for the program to continue and grow. “Our goal is for Cycle Techyalesh to never stop growing, for our new learners to become teachers, and to inspire Cycle Techyalesh to reach women across Ethiopia to confidently move through our cities on two wheels and flip the realities of our streets” said one of its co-founders, Seble Samuel. 

In Afghanistan, a road safety awareness programme was conducted aimed at increasing awareness of secondary school students on issues around road safety and better street designs. Over 250 students from different grades, 37 teachers and 20 representatives from parents of the students participated in the awareness programme. The workshop was received with great enthusiasm from the school authorities and the students familiarized themselves with different traffic signs, traffic lights and important road markings. 

Road traffic crashes continue to be a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, with around 1.3 million people being killed every year. Building on the momentum created in these cities, UN-Habitat will continue to fight and is committed to assist cities in making their transport systems safer for everyone.