In October, Observatory representatives undertook a mission to Moldova with the aim of introducing the EaP RSO Data Team to Moldovan counterparts and to begin the process of improving road safety data collection and analysis in line with Mini-CADaS and CADaS processes.

The mission, overall, was a productive step towards establishing the EaP RSO as a valuable tool for improving road safety in the Eastern Partnership region. Our team met with multisectoral representation from within the Moldovan government, including the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development, Ministry of Health, and State Road Administration.

In his opening remarks, Andrei Cecoltan, Deputy Minister for Internal Affairs and designated National Policy Coordinator for the EaP RSO, emphasized the importance of road safety and encouraged collaboration among all stakeholders in finding solutions to improve road safety in the country.

Collaboration and the need for multi-sectoral working continued as a core theme of the meeting with the need for joined-up working between different agencies involved in the data collection process being highlighted multiple times. Participants expressed their commitment to working together to achieve mutual objectives for roads for all. As such, this is an area that the Observatory will seek to address in upcoming training sessions at both national and regional levels.

The visiting delegation were then introduced to counterparts in the National Inspectorate of Public Order at a practical demonstration led by Pavel Apostol, Head of the Police Department and the designated National Data Coordinator for the Republic of Moldova. Mr Apostol expressed his interest in both sharing the experience of Moldova and learning from international best practices as they strive to reduce the number of road traffic casualties in the country. He noted that it is particularly important for the police department to improve and enhance their information systems in terms of data reporting and made a commitment to sharing data with the Observatory to aid this process.

This data will feed in to the development of the Observatory’s centralised database hosted at the ISET Policy Institute. This will allow for timely, accurate, and relevant data to be made available to Moldovan policy makers through our private Member’s portal, enabling multi-sectoral access to simplified data and analyses for road safety policy development at both a national and regional level.